Love as Drabbles
by Morggy
Summary: Collection of little drabbles highlighting Eric's perspective during the events in Love as a Game. It's not a sequel but it definitely requires that you have read that one prior to reading these. Eric runs into the cute girl from the coffee shop he used to like, but he doesn't recognize her at first. Eric/Sookie. All Human.
1. Coffee

**Collection of little drabbles highlighting Eric's perspective during the events in __****Love as a** **Game**. It's not a sequel but it definitely requires that you have read that one prior to reading these.

**Characters belong to CH and HBO. **

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**:Coffee**

Monday mornings where never dull. There was always running to do, always an early client to see or a meeting that couldn't wait until 9am. Rolling out of bed at 5am should be considered illegal, but he had no choice. It was either that or he'd walk in for his 7.35 appointment with bloodshot eyes and then embarrass himself by yawning every fifteen seconds. He needed an hour to get in gear – and then, then he needed a nice, strong cup of coffee.

Eric had been really pleased to discover that corner café last year. It was within walking distance of the law firm where he worked at and service was fast and descent. Besides, there was just something charming about the place and how it was styled. It always gave him a rush of energy to see the _Flappers_ sign across the street when he stepped out of the parking lot. Perhaps it was because his brain associated it with caffeine.

"Northman!"

He turned as Neil greeted him, stopping next to him, clutching his briefcase to his side. They nodded at each other and moved to walk across the street.

Neil Marks was a colleague and he was also going to be at that 7.35 appointment with him, so they made plans to brief each other during coffee, before they had to go in. They walked into the quaint little café to find it already bustling with activity. It was very warm inside, compared to the chilly January air outside. The sounds of cutlery on good China, the murmured voices and the scent of coffee did something for him. He felt more awake already.

"Let's just take the counter today!" Neil pointed at two vacant stools on the far left of the large polished counter.

Eric nodded and they walked over to claim their seats. It seemed like his favorite table was taken anyway – and they had to hurry. They'd barely sat and Neil was already talking shop, opening his briefcase on top of the counter. But Eric was looking around for a waitress. He needed this before he could even think. He really was turning into an addict – damned be 8-to-5 jobs.

_Flappers_ had recently hired several new waitresses and Eric recognized _Perky_ from the week before. She was tending to a customer to the left of them. He would have waved her over had she looked at him, but she was busy being charming to her customer. She was sweet, and quick, he was sad she was already taken. _Leggy_ trotted right past them carrying a pitcher of milk to the lucky customers to the right of them. Eric sighed as he watched her go.

"Man, you're not even listening to me, are you?" Neil noted next to him. "I'll fix your problem..." he started snapping his fingers in the air. "Hey waitress! Over here!"

Eric followed Neil's rude fingers and he saw the blonde by the espresso machine. She looked over her shoulder, a little confused, blue eyes blinking. He didn't recognize her, so she had to be one of the new girls too, probably unaccustomed to being snapped at.

"Can we get some coffee over here?" Neil asked impatiently.

The girl fumbled with the espresso cup she was working on and nodded. "Just one moment, sir!" she said as she turned around carefully.

"I'll take this!" _Perky_ sidled up to her and took the cup from her hands and shot her an encouraging smile.

Eric watched her as she rushed to get the coffee pot before she turned back to them – that fresh, _newbie_ nervousness clear about her. But she got their coffee right. Eric thanked her as she poured him a cup and her eyes flitted up to his briefly before she cast them down again. He could swear he saw her cheeks flush. It was cute.

"Thank you," he said to her when she stepped back.

She flashed them both a nervous smile and scampered away to pour coffee to the other customers. Eric found himself following her with his eyes as he sipped his coffee. His brain still completely tuning Neil out. He had never noticed how _nice_ those uniforms looked before. They looked especially nice on _her_. Something about a cute blonde in a yellow dress looked so wholesome and innocent, but then there were those long, smooth legs, and the feet in white sneakers that made him smile, as did the bouncing, shiny pony tail – and then, the way her uniform hugged her around her chest...

"_Booby Trap,_" he muttered into his cup with a smirk.

"What?" Neil looked over at him.

Eric finally dragged his eyes away from the girl, who was now tending to customers on the tables by the door. He looked at his colleague, still with his briefcase propped open in front of him, and his coffee nearly drained next to him.

"Continuing..." Eric cleared his throat. "You were on Martin versus Lincoln?"

"Martin versus Lincoln..." Neil nodded, whipping out a file from his briefcase.

They went over the details for their appointment through two more cups of coffee and a bagel for Neil. Back and forth the new waitress went, always smiling but also throwing hesitant sideways glances at Neil. He couldn't blame her. Eric decided she smelled great too, she wore a citrusy perfume - and by the end of their stay he couldn't help but wonder if her skin would feel as smooth as it looked. It was about that time he had to remind himself he had a girlfriend.

"Can we get the check, please?" Eric asked when she came to refresh their cups one last time. He forced himself to keep his eyes on her face – but fuck him if she didn't have pretty eyes and lips too.

She looked up at him and nodded, that same flush going over her cheeks again and he had to hold back a groan. She was not making this easier. He would be having fantasies about her in no time. He smirked to himself as he checked his pockets for a wallet.

They paid their bill and started heading to the door. Their waitress was by the door and she waved at them and bid them a good day. Neil smiled at her and wished her the same while Eric waved distantly as he stepped on the sidewalk.

"Don't ever call her _Booby Trap_ to her face man... she might slap you..." Neil whispered conspiratorially at him as they stopped to wait for the traffic light to go green again. Eric cocked his eyebrows at him curiously. "Yeah, well I have eyes and a dirty mind too. Plus I'm smart." He snorted shaking his head. "Booby Trap..."

"Yeah I might punch my cousin for teaching me that one..." Eric sighed as they started walking again.

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**I would rather just post this on my blog but I know some of you don't like leaving FF.N - I might limit what I post here though, depending on ratings. Also, review the bleep outta this if you want more and quick - easy peasy.**


	2. Cinnamon

**Thank you those who took the time to leave their enthusiasm and feedback in the review box - you guys live in my heart. I guess we can do with one more before the holidays!**

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**::Cinnamon**

Around ten o'clock in the morning there were still a lot of people coming and going in the cafe. This morning, people seemed particularly noisy. But that was perhaps because Eric was on a deadline, trying to work out a case fueled by coffee cup after coffee cup. Every little thing had the power to break his concentration. But he was at a public place, so he had to suck it up since he'd decided to do this here, and not in his office_._

He'd decided to do it _old school_ as well since he'd left his laptop at the firm. He was writing down on a note pad and calling his contacts on his personal phone. Very unusual for him, but today he needed this. He needed to not be _there_ for this.

"More coffee Mr. Northman?"

He looked up from his notes, blinking at _Gum Breath_ as she stood in front of him holding the coffee pot and chewing on her gum, like she always did. She cocked an eyebrow at him when he took too long to reply.

"Yes, please…" Eric said in one breath, finally snapping out of it and pulling back so she could lean in and refill his cup. "Thank you…"

He took the moment to sit back and just take a look around him. The people at the tables around him were completely different people from the ones he'd seen last time he looked up. Eric pinched the bridge of his nose and blinked repeatedly again to clear his eyes. Some of the waitresses had switched shifts already. He saw _Perky _ and _Leggy _prepping by the work station, and, just as he was watching them, _Booby Trap_ walked out from behind the partition adjusting her apron.

"Hey sweetie, my tables are all yours…" _Gum Breath_ told her, giving her her tray and pad.

Eric checked his watch curiously. That's why he hadn't seen her in a while when he came early for his coffee – she'd changed shifts. He was momentarily distracted from work as he watched her walking across the room, following the sway of her hips encased in what, at least until he saw her in it, he considered to be a sweet, innocent yellow uniform. He shook his head sharply and forced his eyes back to his papers, swirling the pen between his fingers and frowning as he tried to get back on track.

"There you are! I knew I was going to find you here!"

He looked up to see his girlfriend Sarah striding up to him, with her briefcase in hand. She leaned down to kiss him and then took the seat next to him.

"Do you know how I knew you'd be here?" she asked him.

"Uh… Neil ratted me?" he cocked an eyebrow at her.

Sarah laughed and leaned closer, wrapping her arms around one of his. "That he did. Where's your laptop?" she looked at the table with a frown.

"In my office. I actually think better like this…" he explained looking at his papers. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to go to city hall today."

"It was cancelled," Sarah shrugged leaning over to fix his tie, an annoying habit of hers.

Eric sighed and sat back, just letting her do it. Normally, he would be thrilled that she was here, but today he was really terrible company for anyone. She wrapped herself around him, like she always did and peered into what he was doing. He tried to find as few words as possible to explain it to her so he could get back to work. Then he saw her looking up and followed her gaze.

The pretty waitress was coming towards them with a smile. He noted she had her hair down today, which she kept off her face with a white hair band. Her hair was really long and silky, and he noted she was a little tanned too. Well the summer break has just ended, perhaps she had been to the beach with her college friends.

Thoughts of that girl in a bikini, basking in the sun distracted him momentarily. So that only her voice when she stopped by their table snapped him out of it.

"Hello, what can I get you today?" she was looking at Sarah, who had just arrived.

"Hi! I'll have a latte and a blueberry muffin please!" Sarah beamed at her while stroking Eric's arm like a cat, another annoying habit of hers, especially when there were other women around.

"Would you like more coffee, Mr. Northman?" she asked him, directing her smile at him now.

Eric blinked at her, something else about her was different today. The hair, the tan, what else was it? He found himself narrowing his eyes at her as he tried to determine it.

"Eric!" Sarah nudged him with a laugh. "The girl is waiting for you to speak!"

Eric blinked, slightly embarrassed. "I'm fine, thanks…" he nodded towards his still half-full cup of coffee.

She smiled and nodded before turning around to walk away. Eric did his best not to allow his eyes to trail behind her. Sarah was scrunching her nose and shaking her head.

"Oh, can you believe how strong her perfume is?" she shook her head. "Ugh! And cinnamon too! I hate cinnamon!"

_Cinnamon!_ Eric looked upwards, finally realizing what else it was that was different about her. She'd changed perfumes. Personally he loved cinnamon – but he liked her previous perfume too.

"Say when do you think you'll be done?" Sarah asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know, maybe another couple hours. Why?"

"I don't know if you realize it, but it's Friday!" she said meaningfully, running her fingernails up and down his arm suggestively. "You owe me a weekend trip, remember? And you said, once this case was closed…"

"Yes, once it's closed…" Eric closed his hand over hers. "And it's no guarantee it will be closed today, Sarah."

Sarah sighed and sat back watching him. She allowed him to turn his attention back to what he was writing as her eyes scanned the café lazily.

"Someone dropped you a call from Mexico earlier this morning…" Sarah said casually. "I was in your office, chatting to Sheila. It was a woman, she said it was _personal_…" she eyed Eric sideways.

"Hmmhmm…" Eric was barely paying attention, trying to finish his thought on paper.

"Do you know any Pams?" she asked cocking an eyebrow.

Eric paused what he was doing and looked up at her. "Was it a Pam who called?"

"Yes… do you know her?"

"Yep, I know a Pam. I just didn't know she was down in Mexico now."

"Well who is she?"

"An old headache… Sarah, I need to finish this, please?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I have to go to the bathroom," she stood up, picking up her purse. "Don't eat my muffin!"

"Don't worry, I won't…" Eric grunted.

He tried finishing the paragraph he was working on but he couldn't. That name had dropped on him like a bucket of ice. He sighed, tossing his pen aside and sat back, to look around him unseeingly. What did she want now?

"Latte… and blueberry muffin…"

Eric blinked, looking up to see the waitress back with Sarah's coffee and muffin. She was leaning over the table in front of him and he inhaled her perfume – definitely cinnamon…

"Thank you…"

She pulled back with a shy smile, fixing her apron. His eyes dropped naturally to her breasts and he sighed deeply – frowning, lost at a crossroads between lust and thoughts of a crazy ex-girlfriend.

"Anything else I can get you?" she peered down at his coffee, which he still hadn't touched.

"Yeah…" he snapped, blinking his eyes up to her face before she caught him, and trying to shake the unpleasantness Sarah's news had brought him. "I'd like a cinnamon roll, please."

She actually blushed at him and blinked and then nodded. "Right away, sir!"

Eric didn't stop himself from staring at her as she walked away this time. Perhaps looking at her was the best thing he had going all day after all.


	3. Vodka

**I wasn't planning to update yet, but Kel2Kol poked me about it, so there you go. Enter the Pam!**

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**:::Vodka**

He'd put off seeing her for as long as he could. The firm had kept him busy, his girlfriend kept him busy. But then, two weeks ago he broke up with Sarah and it was all it took him to pick up the phone. He was sucker for punishment – he had to be. Here he was in some club two cities away from home, sitting in a booth next to some Chinese guy with the second best bottle of vodka in front of him, and Pam just a few feet away, at the edge of the dance floor, moving to the beat of loud, obnoxious techno music.

He didn't care for the music – but Pam, well she had his undivided attention. She always kept eye contact, and she always smiled only at him – and he couldn't take his eyes off her, even as he sipped his vodka, knowing it wasn't often he could get a taste of something this good. Chow kept saying things next to him, business-related things but he only nodded and agreed to whatever he said, his eyes never leaving her lithe form clad in white and pink.

One song, two songs, three stupid long-ass songs and all she did was stand there, dance and provoke him. Finally she took a break when Chow fucked off to someplace else, he didn't know where, he didn't care.

She sauntered over to him, minding the sway of her hips, throwing her long blonde hair over her shoulders, coming to stop right in front of him with a wide smile.

"So how did you like it?" she asked, taking his glass from his hand and sniffing at the vodka swirling in the bottom.

"The club, the music, or you?" he asked her, cocking an eyebrow.

Pam sniggered and downed the contents of his glass in one go, rolling her eyes back and shaking her head, her hair flailing about her. "Whooo!" she put the glass down and grinned at him, shrugging. "I know what you think about me… what about the other stuff?" she nudged him to the side so she could squeeze next to him on his seat, scooting close, so she was practically on his lap. "What did you think?"

Eric sighed looking around critically, trying to ignore the closeness and how warm she felt. "Music's terrible!" Pam laughed and reached over to pour more vodka into his glass only so she could drink from it. "The club… well it's a club, Pam…"

"Yes, it is!" she nodded taking a long sip. She then licked her own lips, making sure to draw his eyes to them. She grinned. "But look at all these people here, dancing, drinking, spending money… do you know how much money the owners here make on a weekend like this?"

"No."

Pam grabbed his hand and grabbed a pen that was resting on the table. With her tongue between her lips she wrote down a number and showed it to him. Eric looked at it, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes but how much does it cost them per night?"

Pam grinned. "I like that you're smart as well as pretty…" she looked around the club again and took another sip from his glass. "Chow has all the numbers, I guarantee you it's good business… excellent business even!"

"So you decided to drop practicing law to open a nightclub?" Eric asked her, looking around them dubiously. "And with me? Why?"

"Because I know you're like me, baby!" Pam turned back to him, running her fingers through his hair. "You hate the 9-to-5 life, you hate the boredom of it. You're a creature of the night, like me!" she grinned at him again. "Remember how much fun we had in college?"

"Yeah, I remember how it nearly cost us both a whole year too…" he grinned at her. "So who's this Chow guy?" he asked, looking around, suddenly wondering where he'd fucked off to.

"I met him in Cancun six months ago, he'd just finished opening his first club there! And Eric… it's _amazing_!" she said enthusiastically.

Eric narrowed his eyes at her. "Did you sleep with him?"

Pam's eyes widened and she laughed, pulling back slightly. "Eric! Jealous already?"

"I need to know what you're getting me into, Pam. Is this business business or messy business with people you've _messed around _with?"

Pam narrowed her eyes at him and grinned. "It's business. I promise Chow has never even seen the goods, let alone touch them…" she leaned forward to pour herself another dose. "Just listen to him… I remember you had good times tending the bar near the campus… you were fine with the schedule. It's just more of the same… and a lot more money."

"A lot more work too. Work that we don't know."

"That's what we have Chow for, silly…" she leaned closer, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I know you hate your job, Eric… I'm offering an alternative. Just listen and then think about it… can you do that for me?" she batted her eyes at him.

"I can…" he told her, looking around them again. "It does beat working in an office…"

"And we get to be sued instead of suing people…" Pam giggled.

"I sure as hell hope not!" he frowned at her but he was laughing too.

He was suddenly drawn to her blue eyes and pouty lips – to have her close like this again was distracting.

"So… this Chow guy… you trust him?"

"He's got great references…" she grinned.

Eric nodded, his eyes again dropping to her lips. "What else are you offering here, Pam?"

Pam grinned at him, biting her lip seductively, aware of his discomfort with her so near. "All the trouble I'm worth…" she joked.

"That's a lot of trouble…" Eric said, already leaning in to kiss her.

"But you love it!" she whispered closing the remaining distance, taking her lips to his and cradling his face with her hand.

She tasted like the second best vodka in the world, and like the only woman who'd ever made him lose his head – and hell if she wasn't right about him, he did love it, because apparently he couldn't refuse her even after all the shit she put him through.

Glutton for punishment – yes he was. He was going to regret this – he knew it – but it didn't stop him.


	4. Déjà Vu

**Thank you for the comments. Last update for a while. Happy Holidays.**

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**::::Déjà Vu**

Eric returned to his apartment around eleven o'clock, followed by a very bored and put off little Bonnie Pardloe. He was pretty frustrated himself, although he wasn't about to let the kid see it. He had no idea whether 7-year-olds had the sensibility to detect grown-ups' moods or not but he did his best to hide it anyway.

He was supposed to be on the road right now, to spend the weekend at a friend's summer house. It was his first full weekend in a while and he'd been eager to enjoy it elsewhere. But nothing went as planned tonight. He drove Bonnie to her grandmother's house but upon arrival he realized Mrs. Pardloe was too sick and in no way fit to look after a child – she could get sick too. Mrs. Pardloe had thanked him silently when he suggested he could just drive her back to wait for her Dad since he was due to arrive tonight. But then, when he sat in the hotel bar to wait for him to show up after a meeting with his divorce lawyer, Preston never came. His phone wasn't working either it seemed. So he was stuck with the kid until he decided to show up.

He almost considered calling Preston's ex-wife Sophie, to see if she had any idea why he was running late, but he thought better about it. His friend could get in trouble with her if he did that. So he just stayed put. Fortunately it was way past Bonnie's bed time, so he just needed to feed her and then tuck her to bed.

After that, since Preston's phone was still dead, all there was left for him to do was to get into his room, shower and watch some TV. Because of the club, his sleeping schedule was a bit of a mess, and to make it worse he was pumped full of caffeine – preparation for the long drive. It meant he was wide awake around one o'clock, when he heard Preston coming home. Wide awake, but not happy, since his head was abuzz. So, letting his annoyance get the best of him, Eric yanked his covers away and slid out of bed – striding to his door and pulling it open to question his _roommate_ about his Houdini act.

Except when he pulled his door open, he realized Preston wasn't alone and he paused with a frown. There were scuffling sounds and though he could barely see in the dark there were two distinguishable figures in the dark, one definitely being female. The girl laughed at something and then he heard Preston fumbling with his door before the two of them stumbled through it and the door snapped shut behind them.

Sighing, Eric rolled his eyes and ducked back into his room, closing his own door and thanking God his friend's room was at the other end of the corridor – the last thing he needed to make this Friday perfect were sex sounds. Just to be safe, he turned up the volume on the TV a little bit.

Early on Saturday morning Eric couldn't help but glare at Preston's door as he walked past it. So, OK, maybe part of him was just pissed he was the one getting laid while he babysat. His friend had the right to a little fun – his divorce had been a nightmare. But with his kid around? Really? OK, so Preston was probably thinking they weren't even there – but still…

He walked across his living area into the corridor leading down to his father's old office and the guest bathroom. They'd fixed a bed for Bonnie in there and he wanted to check if she was already up. He knocked on the half-open door and peered inside. Bonnie was sitting on her cot and watching the Saturday morning cartoons. She looked up at him sleepily and waved.

"Good morning!" he told her. "Did you brush your teeth?" she shook her head. "Then get up and do it so we can get breakfast going."

"Okay!"

Eric watched as Bonnie scrambled to her feet, grabbed the folded clothes on top of an ottoman and then raced past him to go into the guest bathroom. He switched her TV off and then walked up to the window and opened it to air out the room. He looked around the room thoughtfully – now it was part office, part a child's room – the blend was an interesting one. He heard the door to the guest bathroom opening and he walked out into the corridor again. Bonnie had already changed into play clothes and also brushed her hair. She was rubbing at her eyes waiting for him.

"Let's go get …"

Bonnie didn't wait for him to finish as she snapped her head up and gasped, having heard something in the living room. Eric watched as she darted off running and calling for her Dad. Eric followed her slowly, hoping it _was_ going to be Preston out there.

It wasn't. He walked out into the living room just as Preston's mystery girl looked up from Bonnie to him, with wide eyes. Yes, he imagined it must be quite sobering to wake up to your one-night-stand's child in the house. He'd hoped she would have left by now.

"Who the hell are you?" he heard himself snapping rudely – even though it wasn't really her he was mad at.

The girl was a bit of a mess – no offense. Wild, blonde hair all over the place and wide blue eyes that stared at him as though she'd seen a ghost. Eric had a hard time imagining Preston picking her up at a bar. She didn't look like the kind of girl you'd pick up at bar. Not dressed like that anyway. She looked more like someone you'd pick up off the road. A hitchhiker. OK, so maybe a _sexy _hitchhiker – he had to concede after a slightly more careful look as she stuttered at him. The t-shirt was cute, the word _Bookworm _stretched across her chest was a little faded and her jeans were pretty worn – OK so maybe he'd brake for her too, he would give Preston that.

Eric had to frown, urging the girl to form a sentence already, but it was then Preston decided to show up. The bastard swaggered into the living room wearing a smug smirk, holding to the ends of the towel around his bare shoulders – mercifully he remembered to wear pants.

"Daddy!" Bonnie ran to her father and jumped in his arms.

Eric thought it was lucky the kid was probably completely unaware of just how awkward a situation she had woken up to. She'd been sleeping in Uncle Eric's apartment for a couple of weeks now, and she'd seen people coming and going, she probably just assumed this woman was another one of those people.

"… I got here last night. Didn't Uncle Eric tell ya?"

Oh… _Uncle Eric_ had to step in now. "Uncle Eric waited for you until ten thirty, but you never showed up."

Preston had the decency to look mildly embarrassed. "Yeah I… I got distracted." His eyes flitted over to the blonde between them.

The girl looked very uncomfortable now and she smiled sheepishly, taking a step back and tugging on the hem of her t-shirt a little. Preston proceeded to make introductions quite casually. Eric had perhaps been a bit rude when she said a tremulous _hi_ at him – he was busy glaring at Preston though.

She refused Preston's invitation for breakfast, thankfully, and then he started walking her out of the apartment while Bonnie raced to the kitchen.

"Right uhm… bye, Eric. It was nice to uhm… meet you."

Eric was nodding, out of politeness as she walked past him. But something about her voice when she said his name made him pause and take a look. He frowned as the door closed behind them, Preston having followed her outside. His eyes narrowed slightly as he picked on the odd feeling of _Déjà vu_. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but there was something about that split of second...

"Uncle Eric? Can you help me with the cupboards?" Bonnie called over from the open kitchen as she stood on her tippy toes, trying to reach the handles.

"Sure!" Eric shrugged it off as he walked over to help her.


	5. Rum & Coke

**A'ite, updating by request again. I was going to wait for the new year but kellykol asked for a pick-me-up and I couldn't say no to her coooz I kinda have a bunch of drabbles lined-up anyway. And yeah, because she's cool! :P So there you go! Happy New Year y'all!**

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**::::: Rum&Coke**

When Eric brought Preston in with his daughter, he knew it would be a while and that things could get a bit weird. Eric hadn't been around kids since he had been one of them. Then, he hadn't been around Preston in a few years either.

When he left the firm to start working on opening the club with Pam and Chow, he did his best to keep in touch with his colleagues. But Preston vanished when he got married. He'd heard the lady was a bit of a head case and wouldn't let him socialize with people out of her own circle. For years, Eric assumed people were just being too harsh, and that the guy was simply in love, and caught up in his new life. It turned out those people had not exaggerated it though. Now that Preston was a single man, and free, he had to admit he let his network go a little and he regretted it.

So having him living in his house at first was like taking on a roommate back in college, not knowing what the hell you were going to get. Bonnie was adorable, and a well-mannered kid – which made him fear Sophie a little bit, not that he would admit that to anyone. Preston was struggling, but he couldn't expect it to be different. After that Saturday morning a week earlier, Preston had apologized, and promised not to bring girls to his apartment anymore. Eric had hurried to explain to him he was free to have dates over, the problem had been he had his own things going and he was stuck babysitting. But since Preston couldn't have known that, having thought Bonnie would be staying with his mother, it was all forgiven and they patted each other's backs and never mentioned it again.

Eric suspected Preston still preferred to keep his encounters someplace else, because twice in the week he'd arrived almost as late as he did, smelling of beer and a little disgruntled. He didn't tease him about it though. If he was taking a dip in the sea people kept telling him was full of fish, he wasn't going to give him a hard time about it. His wedding had sounded a bit like military school – the guy deserved it.

So when he showed up tonight at the club, smartly dressed, ordered a stiff drink at the bar and started looking around as though he was waiting for someone, Eric didn't think anything of it. Pam was less forgiving. She often teased their friend about his newly acquired bachelor status and his activities since then. So Eric knew what she was up to when she sidled up next to him behind the bar with a grin and nudged him to the side before nodding in the direction Preston was heading to – which seemed to be the stairs to the main floor.

"Think he's got a hot date tonight?" she asked him.

"I don't know," Eric said as he finished fixing two beers for the girls in front of him.

"Thank you, Eric!" the two girls chorused flirtatiously before taking their drinks away.

"I say he does… I've seen a couple of girls go up to him and he politely declined them!" Pam said.

"Well in that case, leave the guy alone!" Eric laughed, knowing Pam wasn't above hunting them down to embarrass him.

"You're getting old Eric!" Pam teased him. "What fun is my life if I don't get to tease my friends?"

"You always find ways to have fun, Pam…" Eric got in his little jab for the night.

But true to her form, Pam just cocked her eyebrow at him and smirked before leaving him to his work. Eric shook his head to himself as she did. He really had to stop acting like he cared. He was turning into a bitter asshole. He needed to take a leaf out of Preston's book and go out and find a girl to waste some time with. Preferably not in his club. He knew better than to date any of the girls that came on to him while he was working. He'd done that, and for a bit it was OK. But, Pam was right on one thing, he _was_ getting old. Old for the kind of relationship he was likely to strike with any of them. Dull, vain, and short-lived.

As he was contemplating this a customer raised a hand for a drink and he nodded, walking over to the other end of the counter. He saw Preston walking up towards him with a confident air and a smile he hadn't been wearing earlier. He was dragging some blonde girl behind him – Eric caught her eyes briefly and she seemed a bit nervous. He quickly served the beer he'd been asked and then walked over to them and braced his hands on the counter, unable to contain a smirk as he looked at his friend.

"What will you be having?" he asked them as he acknowledged his date with a nod and turned his smirk back to his friend.

Preston was on to him and he just smirked back. He was probably getting shit all over the place about being single again. "Nothing for me, I'm driving." He then turned to his companion. "Another rum and coke, Sookie?"

_Sookie_? A light went on in his head as he moved to regard his friend's date more closely. Sookie! This was the girl he'd found in his apartment! The slightly uncomfortable look in her face as he watched her confirmed it.

"Uhm… yeah, a rum and coke please!" she squeaked a bit uncertainly, almost like she was asking a question.

Eric looked meaningfully at Preston again. He wondered if it'd been her he had been with during the week as well. He moved about, fixing her rum and coke, vaguely aware more people had joined them at the counter. He returned to them and slid the drink towards her.

"Here's your drink."

He'd heard her murmured thanks as he was already heading away when suddenly the girl next to her shrieked audibly.

"Oh my God, it's Eric!"

He'd grabbed a dish rag and was ready to go do some wiping around but now he was staring at the petite brunette next to Sookie with a frown. Then, like he'd just downloaded a movie into his head it clicked.

_Perky!_

"Hey!" he laughed, moving back to them. "It's Amelia right?"

"Oh you remember me?"

"Of course I remember you! You're _Perky_! How are you doing?"

He felt a sudden rush of nostalgia. She looked exactly like he remembered her, bouncy brown curls, wide grin and a crazy vibe about her. The only thing missing was the yellow uniform and white apron. She gushed at him that he'd remembered. He felt a little bad because yes, he wouldn't have if she hadn't so _perkishly_ drawn his attention. He'd met few people in life as bouncy as her. She asked him about his use of the word _Perky_ and he'd had to confess he'd had a nickname for all the girls at the café. It was just something he did because he always sucked with names and they never wore nametags. He remembered her name because she'd told him once while they chatted at the counter and he'd thought it was a happy-sounding name – like her.

"What was your nickname for Sookie then?" she'd asked with a smirk and at sideways glance at her friend.

His nickname for…

Blues eyes on blue eyes they stared at each other. Eric frowned as he took a careful look at the girl in front of him. She stared back at him self-consciously, almost taking a step back. And right there, in her uncomfortable skittishness it clicked. The girl with the…

"That's right… you worked there too," he nodded slowly. _That's_ why there had been that little moment when she was at his apartment – the nagging feeling.

He'd met her before, of course. She looked a little older, but he supposed so did he. She'd been in college back then with very girlie features – she was definitely all woman now – her posture too was a little more confident than it was back then.

"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you before," he continued, before he stared too long.

She shrugged with a sheepish smile and he had to chuckle. So she was still a little shy.

"So, what was her nickname?" _Perky_ insisted, earning a glare from her friend.

Yeah, he didn't think he was going to disclose _that – _he thought as his eyes naturally dropped to check if she still had them. Yep she did. He quickly averted his eyes when Sookie herself looked down at her chest.

"I think it was _Blondie_ or something like that…" he hurried to say.

That was actually what every other customer called her. More than once he'd seen her look up sharply at shouts of _Blondie _in the café. He'd heard other waitresses call her by a last name – it was a really unusual one too, he would probably get it wrong if he tried it out.

"So, what can I get you guys?" he quickly offered _Perky_ and her companion.

He moved to get their drinks and brought them back. Amelia introduced him to her boyfriend and then both congratulated him on keeping such a great club. Eric thanked them and looked at Preston and Sookie, to make sure they didn't need anything else. Preston smiled back at him with his hand on Sookie's shoulder. She sipped her rum&coke with her eyes downcast. Eric excused himself to go back to work.

He didn't think much more about the surprising coincidences of the night as he carried on serving drinks. But when he left the bar for his break he saw Preston as he walked past the glass doors to the platform and stopped. He seemed to be alone, talking on the phone. He decided to go over to him and chat, in case he didn't see him the rest of the night. He tried to ignore the small group of girls that started calling to him as he walked past them, but he knew he was laughing.

He caught up to Preston just as he hung up, and from the look on his face he knew he'd been chatting to Bonnie.

"All good at home?" Eric offered him.

"It feels weird… this splitting time between homes thing…" Preston confessed with a sigh.

Sometimes he would get like this. These were the moments Eric knew Preston didn't truly want the divorce. He may say whatever he wanted to say about how Sophie was a nutcase, he didn't want this. He gave him an understanding look and allowed his friend a moment to breathe and just stare at the ground between them. Through the corner of his eyes, Eric realized Sookie was still around. He looked up to see her leaning on the rail several steps away. She was staring at the city with a contemplative look in her face. He could see her profile in the light.

He caught himself trailing the contours of her face – noting how they'd sharpened out over the years. She was still all plump curves and delicate, but her eyes and the lines of her jaw and cheekbones were decidedly womanly now, making her face less like a little girl's. Eric realized he still found her very attractive – perhaps even more so than before.

He wondered what she was thinking about when she bit her plump bottom lip and looked down, shuffling her feet. Wondering what she was thinking about had been one of the things he often did back at the café. She had always looked so reserved and soft-spoken. Even after her initial nervousness had morphed into the confidence of an experienced waitress, she was generally less conversational than the other girls. Only once or twice he'd remembered her calling him by his first name – which all the other waitresses felt free to do after they'd grown used to seeing him there every day. Perhaps it was part of her appeal – the mystery. Part of the why he was staring at her now while feeling a sting of jealousy at the realization his friend Preston had seen more of her than he had…

"I'm sorry, I zoned out…" Preston said suddenly.

"What?" Eric looked away and caught himself, before Preston asked him why he was ogling his date.

"I was…" Preston shook his head and then looked over his shoulder. "I should get back to her now…"

"Yeah…" Eric sighed, allowing himself to look at her again. "You don't want someone else snatching her up."

Preston laughed. "No!" he looked back at him with a grin.

"So is she the one you've been with when you get in late?" Eric asked curiously.

"Oh no… no…" Preston looked embarrassed as he looked at her again and back. "Tonight is the first time we meet since that night… and morning…" he grinned. "I wasn't sure I should look for her again…"

Eric frowned at him curiously. "Why not?"

"Because she's one of the nice ones…" Preston ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure I'm ready for nice."

Eric arched his eyebrows slowly, regarding his friend. He looked over at her again, still lost in her little world of worry, it seemed.

"So why did you call her again?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Trust me… you would too…" Preston smiled before turning back to go and join her by the railing.

Eric watched as Preston walked over to her and touched her shoulder – he said something and nudged her to the side with his hip. She looked up at him and smiled before looking down between them – he couldn't see it from here but he bet she was blushing. She always blushed.

"Fuck me…" Eric muttered as he started turning to go back inside.


	6. Catalysis

**:::::: Catalysis**

The ringing phone dragged him out of a deep sleep and he turned in bed as though his limbs weighted double what they used to. He was suddenly sensitive to the light coming straight at him from the open shades in his bedroom. He felt as if the ringing was in his brain and as he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up on his hands, his heavy eyelids threatened to close again as he eyed his phone on the bed-side table. For a split second he saw himself smashing it against a wall – and it was beautiful.

"What?" he answered groggily, flipping down on his back and closing his eyes.

"_Good morning to you too!_"

Eric sighed. He'd recognized the ring tone, but his sleeping brain hadn't quite prepared him to actually speak to Pam yet.

"What?" he repeated, not bothering to make amends for his lack of manners.

She sighed heavily on the other side too and, for a moment, both were silent. Eric frowned, his eyes still closed, he started wondering if he'd dreamed the phone call now.

"_I'm sorry Eric…_" she said in a subdued voice. "_I hate it that we went to bed without talking last night. I hate that we went to separate beds too…_"

Eric sighed again, not exactly sure of what to say. But his impetus to say more hurtful things dissipated as he listened to the tone of her voice.

"We're fine, Pam. We always are. Chow needs us to keep our shit together and we still haven't failed him. I'll just see you later…" he said and started rolling onto his side, ready to hang up.

"_Can I come over?_" her voice was hopefully sweet.

"Pam…" Eric breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We'll see each other at the club. OK?"

"_You don't want me to come over._" It wasn't a question.

"I don't."

"_Well fuck you, Eric!_"

Eric just ended call and tossed his cell phone back on the bed, stretching and forcing himself fully awake. He dragged himself to the bathroom and went through the motions – he knew he'd done a poor job shaving before he came out but he didn't care.

He walked over to his kitchen and switched on the TV for some noise before he started working on breakfast. He needed the noise today.

Sleeping with Pam again hadn't been very smart. It changed a carefully built distance that had been there for the last two years. It'd happened five weeks ago and ever since things had been tense between them.

His friend Charlie, who always gave him a hard time about being a pussy when it came to Pam, had warned him the reason she was coming after him now was because _he_ was the one pushing her away this time. He didn't want to listen to Charlie at first – Charlie had never liked Pam after all. But given the confrontations they kept having, he was forced to agree it was more than likely the truth. He knew Pam'd been seeing this girl Layla just a month ago – and just before they slept together she'd been fooling around with some guy in a band.

He didn't need that in his life anymore. It was a mistake, a silly, stupid, drunken, jealousy-driven mistake…

"Oh hey, good morning!" Preston sauntered happily through the front door, distracting him from his musings.

Eric looked up from the frying pan to see his friend smiling broadly and scratching the scruff of beard on his face. He dropped his keys on the counter noisily and eyed what he was doing.

"That smells good!" Preston said sliding out of his jacket. "Pity I've already eaten!" he said and leaned over to steal a piece of toast anyway. "You look like shit!" Preston laughed at him, dropping his jacket on the counter as well.

"Yeah, bad night." Eric looked away from him and added another strip of bacon to the frying pan.

Preston hummed around his toast, nodding. "Did you guys patch up then?"

"No," Eric turned his attention back to his frying pan. "We left to go to the club just after you sneaked out."

"Oh well…" Preston wiped the crumbs off his shirt. "You guys will make up eventually. I should hit the shower before I go!"

Eric watched him go with the veiled contempt he'd grown used to. He would shake it off in a minute. He just needed to get over the fact he'd probably spent the night out fucking Sookie while he had to deal with his shit and then come back home and sleep on it.

At least now he could be thankful Preston chose to not bring her back to his apartment whenever they hooked up. He was already feeling like a fool for being jealous over this. He was a fucking grown man and here he was resenting his friend for getting the girl he _technically_ saw first. He didn't think calling dibs would fly with him – it might make Preston pity him a little though. He pitied himself a little too if he was honest.

The first night he realized who she was, that night at the club – he thought that would be the only time he'd ever feel weird about it. She'd been a cute, okay, a phenomenally hot girl he enjoyed watching when she brought him his coffee, while simultaneously feeling guilty because he was in a relationship at the time. He hadn't seen her for years, he hadn't _thought_ about her for years. He hadn't even recognized her at first! Yet, here he was, picturing himself ripping Preston's balls off anyway.

He knew they'd been hanging out – probably hooking up too. Though last night was probably a rare night in which he actually spent the night with her. Perhaps they were getting serious then.

Lovely.

That night at the club, he'd seen when they left together around three in the morning. All of Sookie's friends had left already, so she was without a ride. Convenient, of course. After closing the club and getting back to his apartment, Eric could tell Preston hadn't made it home at five in the morning yet. He came back around 7 am, happily disheveled. He stopped by the kitchen, grabbed an apple and went to his bedroom, probably to sleep.

Preston had made Sookie come hang out at the club other times in the last five weeks. But he'd mentioned it wasn't quite Sookie's_ scene_. She usually just came for a couple drinks while they chatted before they left to do something else. He'd seen ticket stubs from the movies on the counter once, and a doggy bag from a restaurant on another night. A couple times he'd actually buzzed her up to the apartment while Preston finished getting ready. They chatted a bit on those occasions and oddly, Preston and Sookie hadn't looked like intimate boyfriend and girlfriend. There was no kissing in front of him or pet names – but perhaps it was just part of Sookie's discreet preferences. Or not. Frankly he wished he could stop wondering so much about whether or not they were fucking each other's brains out all the time.

There'd been the night he caught Sookie in his apartment in the middle of the night. It'd been the night of his little slip with Pam actually. He didn't like to think about it, but a little part of him wondered if he went to Pam to forget about her. And who was to show up after-the-fact if not Sookie herself? It'd been then Eric realized his mistake. That had been a first – every other time he ended up with her had been because he wanted to - period. It was a bit strange… and also embarrassing. Not that falling into bed with Pam after everything that happened between them wasn't embarrassing in and of it self – but this was definitely different.

It turned out Preston had been innocently hanging out with Sookie's friends, which included the other boys – and playing pool with them and getting drunk while the girls chatted and drank at a table. He wasn't going to fool himself into thinking all of their dates were equally innocent though.

A phone started ringing, distracting Eric from his circular thoughts and his breakfast. He stared at the counter, realizing it was Preston's phone in one of his jacket pockets. He looked up to see if he was coming out of his shower yet but it didn't look like it. So he swallowed his food and leaned across to paw at his jacket, find the phone and flip it open. He looked at the screen – it was Sookie calling. He hesitated for a moment, and sighed.

"Hello?" there was only silence on the other side so he tried again. "Hello?"

"_Sorry, hi! Eric? It's Sookie,_" her voice was a little high pitched – which he'd quickly come to recognize as her nervousness coming through.

"Oh, hi Sookie, how are you doing?" he said as evenly as he could, without cracking a smile.

"_Just great! How about you?_"

He had to smile now. "Just great, thanks." But not really. Not at all actually. "Preston's in the shower. Want me to take a note?"

There was a sigh on the other side, and a long pause – Eric was left looking around and hoping the message wasn't going to be anything cute and disgusting.

"_Yeah. Could you tell him he forgot his wallet and driver's license at my place? I'm going to work so if he wants to get them back he'll have to drop by the bookstore_."

Eric was the one with the long pause now. So he had spent the night. Perhaps they were getting serious after all.

"Right. I'll tell him. Thank you for calling." He said it curt and dry – unable to help himself.

Sookie didn't seem to notice though – she chuckled and thanked him and then they hung up.

Preston came jogging out of the corridor, shrugging his suit jacket on – he'd shaved. He eyed his jacket on the counter and winced. "Sorry about that... I'd take it back to my room, but I gotta run. I have a meeting in a half-hour!"

Eric handed him his cell phone. "You'll need this. You might want to drop by Sookie's store too if you don't want to get pulled over without your wallet and driver's license."

Preston closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Fuck! I left it there?"

"Yeah you did..." Eric smiled at his friend sympathetically. "Look I..." Eric shifted in his seat. "If you want I can drive you to your meeting so you won't run into trouble. I can drive by Sookie's store and get your stuff on my way back."

"Yeah! That works!" Preston said checking his watch. "Yeah, yeah, let's do that! Thanks, man. I'll owe you one!"

Eric stood to grab his car keys and driver's license. He didn't dwell on whether or not he was just doing Preston a favor, or finding an excuse to see Sookie. He drove Preston to work, while they talked about random things, but once he started driving to her store, having memorized the address his friend gave him, he had to admit – he kinda was doing this more for himself.

_The Bookshelf_ was a cute looking little store on a street that offered a variety of services – but the area was mostly residential. It wasn't a bad location at all, many small businesses thrived in heavily residential neighborhoods because they trusted their neighbors to be too lazy to drive far for their shopping.

There was a vintage look to the architecture of the place – and it reminded him of the coffee shop. He pulled the door open and looked up at the chimes that rung with it. It was charming.

He looked inside as he stood there, taking in the look of the place. It was definitely embracing the feeling of small and cozy. There was a lot of wood paneling and shades of brown. He looked up at the counter facing the door and a young woman he didn't recognize looked up from another guy's shoulder. She smiled politely with a welcoming nod and turned to look at the computer screen. It seemed like the guy was showing her something.

Eric blinked and frowned, looking around again, trying to find her. There were a couple of girls browsing nearby and in the back he saw a white-haired man walking between shelves. He started walking through the aisles, curiously looking at the indicative signs for each section.

And then he saw her, at the end of the aisle, perched on a small ladder, propped against the taller shelves by the wall. She wore her hair in a ponytail which reminded him of her waitressing days… and waitressing uniform. His eyes dropped to her ass unapologetically and drooped a little. Damn. Those jeans worked just fine too. He braced his hand on the top of the shelf next to him and sighed.

"Oh jeez!" Sookie suddenly squeaked looking over her shoulder and then hurrying to grab onto the shelf in front of her. "You scared me!" she gasped.

"I'm sorry…"

He contained his smile and lazily scanned the books she'd been stacking. Politics, the little plate on top said.

"This is definitely not the aisle you'd catch me lost in ever."

That gave her a chuckle, and he smiled too. Then she frowned, watching him.

"Uhm... what are you doing here?"

Torturing myself – was his first thought. She'd licked her dry lips, drawing his eyes to her plump mouth. She was nervous. He smiled slowly, unable to stop himself.

"Picking up Preston's wallet." But he'd be OK with it if she wanted to make out behind one of the shelves too.

Sookie all but slapped her forehead as she understood it. He watched as she fumbled with the last book that needed putting away and then climbed off the ladder, looking slightly out of balance. She said she'd go get it and started walking away, carrying the little ladder along with her.

Eric hurried up to help her, taking the ladder from her, which surprised her. She smiled and thanked him and led him down to the end of the aisle and told him where to put the ladder away for her. She thanked him and looked away, tucking her hair behind her ear before turning around to start walking back to the front of the store. Eric followed her again – aware of the tension on her shoulders, and the way her hands were balled into fists. It seemed like waitress or no waitress, she was still a little ball of stress. It made him smile.

He watched as she went behind the counter to retrieve Preston's wallet from her purse. He walked around the front of the counter and braced against it to wait for her.

"Here you go!" she smiled cheerfully as she gave him the wallet. "So Preston gets to stay in your house _and_ he gets you to run errands for him? Where do I get myself a roommate like you?"

His eyes snapped up from the wallet to hers and he smiled slowly. He'd rather have her as a roommate too. "He's at work. I drove him there since he didn't have his license."

"Ah… of course. Well problem solved then!" she nodded at the wallet.

"Yep…" he glared down at the wallet, hating it a little bit too. "Well thank you."

He quickly looked around and thought of something to say about her little store. "You did a good job here. It looks great – very rustic. It smells like wood in here."

"Thanks!" Sookie beamed at him and she looked beautiful when she did – he could see how much pride she took in her little shop. "The only smell I like better is caffeine… and books…"

He wanted to laugh, picturing her sniffing books – he could see it too. It was kind of adorable.

"You used to serve coffee and now you sell books. It seems to me like you make a point of getting yourself what you like."

"Or… smell… what I like?" Sookie sassed him.

"Still… very commendable." He chuckled.

"I like to think so!"

The charming little chimes rung again by the door and Eric looked over his shoulder, distracted. A woman walked inside with her children. He turned back to see Sookie watching them too. Right, that was his cue to leave.

"Well thanks again, Sookie. Preston appreciates you calling him," he started pulling away from the counter.

"Uhm sure…" she shrugged. "I see you around."

"Yeah… come to the club again sometime." _Please?_ "We always have good music."

"I might… I know my friends would love to go back," she tucked her hands in her back pockets and smiled.

"I'll be glad to see you all." _But mostly you_. "Bye."

"Bye!"

After driving to Preston's firm and leaving his wallet at the reception, he went to the club to start getting some work done. He thought about Sookie and her little store and how much it suited her. It bothered him. _She_ bothered him. He huffed impatiently, gripping the steering wheel a little harder.

He parked his car in its usual space and locked it before going into the club through the service entrance. He nodded and waved at the people that were already around working. It was Thursday and the band for the evening would start setting up in a few hours so they had to get the stage cleaned. He'd just dropped his things in his drawer in the office on the third floor when the door jerked opened and Pam stepped inside. He looked up, arching his eyebrows at her for her abruptness. She blinked at him, she muttered her hello and dropped her purse on the couch before leaving the room again.

Eric stood there for a minute, his eyes dropping to the floor. He sighed, grabbed his phone and went after her.

* * *

**Uhm, so notes and stuff on my blog. Thank you for the love. Happy New Year. I'm all partied out and exhausted... Imma go flop on my face and sleep through January.**


	7. Good Beer

**This should be between chapters 4 and 5 of LAG. Pam is already preggers but she doesn't know it yet. Thx for the reviews. Have a good week!**

* * *

**::::::: Good Beer**

He woke up to the sound of a blow-dryer in his ensuite bathroom. He jerked up, blinking – he had been lying on his back, so he rolled his eyes to the open doorway and he could see Pam leaning over the sink, wrapped in a towel, working with the dryer and a brush.

Eric sighed and rubbed at his eyes unceremoniously, squinting them closed against the light before opening them again. Pam walked into the room, holding the towel to herself with one hand and the blow-drier on the other. She shot him a smile as she walked to the armchair where she'd dropped her overnight bag.

"Did I wake you?" she asked casually.

"Yep."

"Good!" she said innocently.

Eric chuckled, still refusing to get out of bed. He closed his eyes again and just enjoyed a few prolonged moments of pure laziness. He heard her moving about the room. She was actually pretty sweet about not talking to him and letting him pretend he could sleep a little longer. He was so tired he actually had the illusion of falling asleep. But when she woke him up again, by suddenly straddling him none too gently, he knew he couldn't have closed his eyes for that long.

She grinned impishly at him and he fluttered his eyes open and closed, smiling back, his hands coming to rest on her hips. She was already dressed, in a white shirt and silver-grey slacks – she'd even put make up on already – OK so maybe she'd let him sleep a bit longer than he thought.

"It's almost noon, sleepy head," she told him, leaning down to kiss him. "I have to go book up that band from Glasgow before they leave town."

"Kay…" Eric answered sleepily, closing his eyes again. "Have fun."

Pam sighed at his closed eyes and then leaned down to kiss him again. "Love you…" she whispered into his ear, as though it was a well kept secret.

"Love you too…" was his mumbled reply.

Eric frowned when she scrambled away from him, causing the mattress to shift and shake all over again. She did it on purpose too and he growled with his eyes still closed, smiling when he heard her unapologetic laugh as she walked out of the room.

He'd had to drag himself off the bed after that. They'd had a full night, and it'd been Chow's night off. Pam was locked away in the office most of the night, which left him to cover the club by himself on a Friday night.

They'd been back together for a couple of weeks now and he was waiting for it to feel like normal again. They'd done this before. The first time they'd been too young, and the last time they'd been old enough to do better. But each time the problem had been whenever it got too intense, whenever it became clear they were a solid couple, she'd find some drama to rock the boat and screw things up. In their Freshman year, it had been Liz. He knew her, they were in some of the same classes. Pam had successfully hackled him up a couple times by playing off their attraction to each other and, dumb that he was at the time, thinking like a 23 year old boy, he'd though it was awesome. At the end of the term it wasn't so awesome when she confessed to having developed feelings for her.

Then, the second time, after he returned from an internship abroad, it had been, well, _the world_, he guessed. Pam'd decided law wasn't for her and she needed a break to travel and _find herself_. She tried talking him into coming with her. But she knew as well as he did, he wouldn't do it. At the time, he was set on graduating, doing the bar exam and getting to work. So they split.

The third time had been – well the third time had been more complex. They worked together and they slept together – they were partners. There had been this friend of Pam's who started coming around the club a lot. Her name was Joy. She started flirting with him and he'd had to come and say he wasn't comfortable with it. She'd acted surprised and embarrassed and then she disappeared. Pam didn't even mention her for a while, but she started acting strange, impatient, anything he said made her snap. So he confronted her about it – it turns out Joy had been making the moves with Pam's consent, both women seemed to be interested in stirring something up between the three of them. Eric sat down with Pam then, and put his cards on the table, he wasn't going there, ever again, not after what happened with Liz – and they had a big, huge fight about the past and the future, and that had been it.

For a while things were weird at the club, and Chow was getting exasperated. They were OK though. Eric still felt like he had to lash out sometimes, and Pam certainly did her best to provoke him when the mood stroke her too – but they'd come to an unspoken agreement that no matter what happened, they were in this business together. It'd been like this for years – with the occasional slip where they'd end up in bed together – on holidays, he supposed.

Now here he was, staring at Pam's toothbrush in his cup on the bathroom sink – and it didn't feel normal. He shrugged off the weird and brushed his teeth. He had a few hours before he had to go to the club, so he had to get moving before the day was wasted.

Saturday nights were always their busiest nights, so Eric stepped up to help the bar. They'd been talking about getting a new bartender for a while. But no matter how many people they put behind the bar, it never seemed like it was enough.

Eric looked over to the high tables across the floor, to where Preston was taking a seat next to Sookie. Lafayette and his boyfriend were there too and he thought he'd seen Tara earlier.

He frowned as he watched them. He couldn't figure those two out. At times it seemed like they were nothing but two friends goofing off together. At others they flirted like there was not tomorrow – like tonight. Just last week, Preston hadn't even seen her, or mentioned her. _Not your business anyway –_ he reminded himself. It really wasn't.

The_ Tavern_ was only ever their first stopping point anyway. Sookie's friends seemed fonder of the place than she was, although she had always said she liked the bands they brought in. But usually, after a couple of drinks she'd take her party someplace else. So he knew they were probably taking off at any minute now.

Next time he looked up, Preston and Sookie were actually walking up to him and he looked up curiously.

"Well hello there!" Eric smiled at them, bracing his hands on the bar. "Fancy seeing you here!"

Preston nodded at him and slid onto a stool with a huffing sigh while Sookie just braced over the bar right in front of him. She smelled delicious, as usual – like damascus – it seemed to be her new fragrance of choice. She looked flushed and she hadn't even had a drink yet to his knowledge – perhaps she had sipped from Preston's glass – another thing couples did and he still wasn't sure what kind of couple they were.

"What are you having?" he asked after he realized he'd been just staring for a moment.

"The sophisticated lady wants the wine list tonight," Preston teased.

"I don't need a list actually. Just give me your most affordable Merlot and I'll be happy," she shrugged and he couldn't help but find the gesture cute.

Preston suddenly shifted in his seat and pulled his phone out. "It's Sophie. I better take this…" he told them before he walked away.

"I'll get your wine…" Eric tapped the bar and winked at her before moving to get her a glass.

She looked up at him expectantly as he returned – showing her the label before pouring the wine into her glass. When he looked up, she was cocking her head to the side while watching him. His eyes were drawn to the arch of her neck and he'd had to swallow and tear his eyes away.

"Is this good?" she asked in a quip as she fingered the base of the glass, pulling it closer to her.

Eric smirked. "I've been told it is. Haven't tried it. I'm not much of a wine drinker."

Sookie's eyes snapped up to his, widening slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah…" he narrowed his eyes smirking. "Does it ruin my reputation as a bartender to say this?"

She did look a bit disappointed, he thought. But she shrugged, a little undecipherable smile curling her lips. She took a sip from the wine, and Eric could see her making a show of savoring it. Then she put the glass down and pulled the palm of her left hand up and then, with her right hand, she pretended to scribble something down on the hand he now had to assume was a pretend note pad. He chuckled as she frowned hard while doing it.

"What is the verdict on the wine?"

"Oh, the note isn't about the wine… it's about the bartender!" she told him mischievously.

Eric smiled. "Well, sorry to have disappointed you."

She shrugged and took her glass again to take a more generous sip. "What is your preference then?"

"Beer."

Sookie stopped her glass on the way to her mouth and arched her eyebrows. "Just beer?" she sounded really surprised and again a little disappointed.

Eric narrowed his eyes, trying to contain a smile. "Good beer. At times I try other poisons too."

She made a little assenting noise with her nose to go with the nod of her head, as her mouth was closed and full of wine. "That's better!"

Eric laughed. "But is your wine to your taste, my lady?" he questioned her.

She smirked and rolled her eyes upwards as though she was considering her answer. "It's good."

She moved to take the stool Preston had vacated, and now he could see more of her, his eyes drooped slightly as he noticed the low cut of her top, giving him a great glimpse of the tops of her breasts. He growled unhappily – thinking she shouldn't have the right to do this to him.

Thankfully, he saw someone raising a hand to him in his peripheral and he had to move away.

He was busy for a while then, pouring drinks. He sensed movement behind him and looked over his shoulder, just as Preston returned and helped Sookie off her stool – her wine glass empty. They looked up and waved goodbye. He waved back, a little more comfortable now.

"Hey…"

Eric stiffened when Pam slipped behind him, sliding her hands around his waist and pressing her chest to his back, her chin propped on his shoulder as she peered at what he was doing. He was fixing a cocktail, with his back to the customers and he was actually glad he was. This was weird – they never did this in front of people, never here, Pam knew this…

"What's up?" he asked her after he relaxed again and continued what he was doing.

"Nothing, I was just bored out there watching…" she trailed off.

Eric snorted. "Well we can always use another hand here."

"Okay…" she pulled away when he started turning and smiled sweetly at him, her eyes drooping meaningfully. "I'll help…"

He smiled at her, and patted her hip quickly before moving to serve the drink.


	8. Moving Night

**Thank you so much for your enthusiasm for these drabbles! I know it certainly brings a new perspective to things. It's been fun to write so far!**

**This should take place somewhere in the middle of chapter 5 of LAG.**

**FF.N wouldn't let me update last night!**

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**:::::::: Moving Night**

Thursday was an odd day to pick to move out, but as it turned out, that was the day Preston's storage fees expired and being as he was often short on cash these days, he chose to just move everything to his new apartment, with the help of all the recruits, of course.

Eric placed a cardboard box on top of another in his living room, and took a moment to sweep his eyes over everything they'd dragged in already. With a huff he turned to go to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water.

"I think Preston's bringing the last ones up now!" Pam said encouragingly as she pulled out a large piece of duct tape to seal another box.

"Yeah I think so…" Eric said after taking a generous swig from his bottle. "You want one?"

"Yes please!" she said with a smile as she tapped the box proudly, having finished sealing it securely.

Eric grabbed another bottle from the fridge and walked over to her as she stood in front of the couch. She thanked him and then both collapsed onto it and sighed in unison. Pam nearly drained her bottle and then Eric pulled her back against his chest and lay on his side, starting to stroke her arm while both looked at the boxes with a nice sense of accomplishment.

"D'you think we'll be done before eleven?" Pam asked as she lay her head on Eric's outstretched arm and started twirling her empty bottle on her hand.

"I don't know. Why?" Eric asked distractedly as his eyes followed the path of his fingers down her arm and over her fingers.

"Chow's holding the fort alone. I don't want us being a couple to make things hard on him. If only it was a Monday or a Tuesday, I wouldn't care," she explained.

"We don't have to be here the both of us anyway. Sookie and Amelia and the other guys are all coming to help. You can run back to the club before time if you have to."

Pam stared at him a little. "I don't want to leave you alone!"

"I won't be alone. There'll be plenty of people there!"

Pam fell silent and Eric continued his exploration. He brushed the hem of her shirt up a little to run his fingers over the flesh of her stomach. Pam stiffened suddenly and started squirming to sit up.

"I uh… I'll be right back…" she muttered, scrambling out of the couch and dashing into the corridor towards Eric's suite.

Eric frowned a little. Then he heard the key turning at the front door and sat up, guessing Preston was back. He stood just as his friend walked in with two more boxes, one on top of the other so he couldn't see anything but the very top of his hair.

"Is that all?" Eric asked as he hurried over to help.

"Yeah these two are the last ones." Preston said tiredly. "I have some stuff in my car already. It would be pointless to bring it all up. I just hope I can get the house ready for when Bonnie comes home on Saturday."

"I'm sure you'll find time."

They heard the intercom buzz and Preston hurried to answer it, expecting it to be his friends coming up to lend their hands. While they waited and started labeling the last boxes, Pam returned, with a strange expression, brushing her fingers over her lips.

"Oh, hey there Pam!" Preston smiled. "I'd like to thank you again for coming tonight."

"It's no problem, Preston!" Pam smiled a little nervously as she came to stand next to Eric, with her hands on her hips while she looked at what they were doing.

Eric straightened up with a sigh and frowned a little. He turned to Pam and leaned over to sniff at her.

"Did you just brush your teeth?"

"Um yeah… I had a pastry earlier… so much garlic…" she said, waving it away. "D'you want a taste?" she offered with a naughty smirk.

Eric grinned and leaned over for a peck. "Minty!"

The front door to the apartment opened and the three of them looked up to see as Amelia headed the small procession of talking people into the apartment. Everyone was already there, except Sookie. Amelia mentioned she'd texted her saying she got trapped with customers and would close a little later than usual but she would be here.

She joined them shortly after. She looked exhausted, but absolutely delectable, to Eric's continued frustration. The minute he saw her, his mood changed in spite of himself. Pam posted herself at his side while they all made plans for the move and he had to feel a little bad. The girl he loved was right here and he was sulking about how pretty Sookie looked while still being someone else's to look at.

It was more than a little ironic that when it came down to dividing into groups to move Preston's things, Sookie got stuck with Pam and himself. It was just downright cruel. The drive was slightly uncomfortable – Sookie tried to get conversation going, but Eric, bothered as he was, couldn't help much. Fortunately, something about Amelia making jewelry came up, and that was enough to keep Sookie and Pam chatting the rest of the way, leaving him alone in his place of discomfort.

Getting to Preston's apartment should have been sufficient escape from the confinement of Sookie's car. But as it turned out, his friend's new place was kind of pretty tiny too. When the nine of them piled inside, there wasn't enough room to swing a cat.

The living room was minimally furnished, but Eric couldn't see what more Preston could do for it. If he got a single lamp it would already take up too much space. There was a built-in kitchen with only enough space for one person to move between the counter and the appliances. There was a small terrace outside at least – although he couldn't even fit a chair out there. The small corridor led into a bathroom, and then two more doors opened into small bedrooms. He felt almost sad for his friend. It was actually nicely decorated, for however much furniture it had, but it was a doll-house. Well Bonnie would freaking love it, he thought.

Everyone spread, as best as they could, to help Preston put away some of his stuff. It became obvious pretty soon that a lot of his stuff would remain boxed and piled up in corners that wouldn't prevent people from moving around.

Eric and Pam settled into what would be Bonnie's room and unpacked the things Preston'd gotten for her. They heard the voices and laughter of the other people in the apartment quite clearly.

"You know what?" Pam said in a near whisper. "Preston can't have sex in here ever… I think everyone in the building would hear it!" she snickered.

Eric was going to comment, when Sookie stumbled in carrying a box labeled toys. "Oh, you guys are in here!" she panted.

"Hey… I'll take this…" Eric straightened up to help her.

"Thanks!" Sookie let him take the box from her and then stood in the doorway looking around. "Uhm so… it looks like you guys got this?"

"Yeah, we'll take care of it!" Eric smiled at her – it wasn't like there was room for her to help in there anyway.

When Sookie turned around and left, Pam grinned at him conspiratorially. "I hope Sookie doesn't mind taking him to her place whenever they wanna fuck!" she whisper-shouted.

Eric made no comment, and started opening Bonnie's box of toys. He really didn't want to think about this – and then he was angry at himself that this still bothered him. He looked over at Pam as she pulled out the linens from another box and started putting them away in the dresser on the corner. He loved her – it disturbed him that this attraction to Sookie was making him feel this way. He was with Pam now – he owed her better. He sighed and promised himself to put an end to this.

"Uhm…" Pam stopped what she was doing suddenly and turned around, catching Eric's eyes a little nervously. She scratched her head a little a looked away.

"What?" Eric looked up curiously.

"I uh… I'll be right back!" she smiled tightly and dashed past him out of the room.

Eric looked over his shoulder. He heard it when Pam told whoever was in the bathroom she would "do it" and then he heard the door banging shut. He frowned and then Amelia was in the room with him looking a bit at a loss of what to do with herself.

"Uhm… what was Pam doing in here?" she asked.

"She was doing the bed sheets and stuff…" Eric pointed at the pile by the dresser.

"Ok!" Amelia piped _perkily_. "I can do that!"

After they were done in there, Eric ventured out to see what else was there to do. He saw Preston fixing the medicine cabinet in the bathroom with Sookie and walked past them. Tray and Lafayette seemed to be all done in the living room and kitchen. He guessed Tara and JB were in Preston's bedroom and he could see Pam by herself out on the terrace.

"Hey…" Eric joined her – she seemed to be enjoying the wind on her face. "Are you OK?"

She looked a little pale, and her skin looked a little clammy. She smiled at him and nodded reassuringly though.

"Sorry I stormed out. I think I was allergic to something in there…"

"It's OK…" he grabbed her hand and tried to tug her closer.

"You know I…" Pam tugged her hand back but wrapped it around his fingers, swinging their arms between them. "I think I'll actually go with your suggestion and get back to the club! I know Preston wants to pay everybody dinner and it could get late… It's your night off anyway so you deserve to go and enjoy it."

"OK…" Eric shrugged.

Chow would really appreciate one of them to get in tonight. Thursdays weren't as big as Fridays and Saturdays, but they had a good band tonight – unlike last Saturday when Pam brought her friend Longshadow and his awful band. In fact, tonight's band had been Eric's idea – they needed to draw back in the customers they'd probably lost that night.

"Your car is at my place though…" Eric remembered. "We came with Sookie."

"Right… that's right…" Pam remembered, running a hand over her forehead with a sheepish smile. "Perhaps I just leave after the entrees then? Then you pick me up later from the club?"

"Sure…" Eric smiled. "Come on, I think we're about done…" he started tugging her hand again.

Preston led them all to a really nice steakhouse, nowhere near the food district. They were all promptly sat and offered menus. Pam only ordered the salad and water and when Eric looked at her questioningly she said those pastries had her full earlier.

She really did leave earlier than most, after a quick trip to the bathroom. Eric walked with her to help her hail a cab and promised her he'd pick her up around four. He went back into the restaurant and sat down, ordering another beer. He could afford to drink, since Sookie was driving. He actually grinned at her as she sipped her orange juice and she eyed his beer disapprovingly.

"Hey were did Pam go?" she asked at one point, scooting closer to him so they wouldn't have to talk over Amelia, who was telling Preston a story while he sat three chairs away, which required her to speak louder.

"She had to dash back to the club so Chow wouldn't get overwhelmed. We got a good band in tonight, we were expecting a lot of people – for a Thursday," he added at the end, leaning closer to speak to her too. He could smell her, leaning close like this.

"Oh… I thought she wasn't feeling well…" Sookie said dropping her eyes to the table. "She was a looking a bit out of sorts back there…"

Because she wasn't looking at him as she spoke, Eric swept his eyes over her, taking in his favorite details about her tonight. Her ponytail was a little loose, and some tendrils of hair escaped the elastic, framing her face rather beautifully. She wore a HP Lovecraft t-shirt, which kind of made him smile. It was a shame she wasn't wearing anything revealing tonight though. He could still see that hint of black lace from Saturday night if he closed his eyes. It had been kind of cute how she'd sat there chatting, even flirting with him, completely unaware of the fact she was displaying just a hint of a _really_ hot black lace bra and plenty of cleavage. He'd ruined it though – she caught him staring and Sookie hastily buttoned herself up as he turned away. She was blushing when he looked back at her though, so it was worth it – he liked when she blushed.

She chewed on her lip after she was done talking, which had him rather distracted. She was now watching Amelia across the table- fortunately she hadn't caught him ogling her. From the head of the table, Eric caught Preston staring at him curiously, and he quickly looked away, sipping his beer. He felt like an ass immediately. Not only was Preston's girl he sat there picturing naked, but he was in a relationship with Pam now – he tended to honor his relationships. And he loved Pam.

"So, I guess she's OK then?" Sookie spoke again suddenly, having finished being distracted by Amelia.

"Yeah, she mentioned something about allergies back in Bonnie's room, but she's fine."

"You know apartments like those sometimes have fungus…" Sookie said to that, and then she looked embarrassed. "Well you know… it's not a brand new building…"

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Eric nodded.

He did his best to politely avoid conversation with her from then on, choosing to chat with Tara and JB instead. Sookie was still his ride though, and he'd noticed she was extra quiet on the way back to his apartment. She probably found him rude and decided to ignore him. She drove looking straight ahead the whole time – only the music coming from the radio filled the space between them. He'd politely thanked her and smiled at her when they arrived. She'd smiled back, just as distantly and wished him a good weekend.

He hopped off her car and tapped her roof so she could go. He watched as her car disappeared around the corner. She bothered him. She really, really bothered him.


	9. Patterns

**Between LAG chapters 04 and 05. I added a little calendar-reference guide to LAG and LAD on my blog. Thank you for reading.**

**I don't own anything.**

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**:::::::::Patterns**

Once Preston moved out, time seemed to fly. The rest of September rushed by before he could even see his friend again. When he did, Preston looked tired, sad, and interested in growing a beard again. He came in at the club, before working hours, they drank a little together. He wasn't upset about the apartment – in fact he wouldn't say what he was upset about. He said he'd just been working a lot.

Then came October, and it flew by as well. He'd thought he wouldn't have to get used to living by himself again – he'd expected Pam to just spend most nights at his apartment, like they used to when they were together before. But after the first few weeks, she'd actually started making excuses not to. It was strange. At the same time she was more affectionate and attentive than before. He couldn't figure her out this time around.

Soon after Preston moved out, Pam actually took a few days off, saying she'd caught some bug and she couldn't come to work. She refused his company too, saying she didn't want him to catch it. He'd dropped by anyway, to bring her food. Eric knew Pam lived mostly of salads, and ready-to-go dishes she bought from a gourmet restaurant that delivered. But if she was sick, just salads wouldn't do. He'd found her in her pajamas and with her hair pulled into a messy bun. She looked clammy and pale again and she didn't want any of the food. He'd tried taking care of her, but it just made her moody, so he left her to recover by herself. She'd hugged him at the door and told him she loved him. Eric had just frowned, confused.

By the end of the month though, she was more like herself, and she came to work without looking like she needed to eat or sleep. She also sounded more like the Pam he knew, the Pam everybody knew. Chow too had thought she had been weird, but they'd had to chalk it off to that bug or something.

Then came November, and just before his birthday, she'd come with something new to shake him again. She'd started tentatively talking about her friend Rita from London and how she'd been really impressed with the club the couple times she'd visited and how she wanted to consult with them before opening her pub. She'd actually mentioned this months before too, before they got back together. It seemed like Rita was keen to start soon and had asked Pam to advise her personally. And it quickly morphed into more than just advising – now she wanted Pam as a business partner and Pam confessed to being very tempted. She asked him what he thought about it and Eric had to think real hard about what to say. Because _this, _this was classic Pam. The moment things got too domestic, she'd find something to rescue her. He'd been careful, and told her she should take some time to think about it.

His birthday was on the 8th of November and Eric never made a big event out of it. But his friends were welcome to come by and have a drink and make bad jokes about him going old. He was working the bar, since it was a Tuesday and therefore a slow night. They kept a smaller staff on Tuesdays and on Mondays, they never opened. So he chatted with Dawn Green between serving customers. He saw it over the top of her head when Pam came strutting towards him with her impish smile and holding a champagne flute. As soon as she was next to him, Dawn walked away, to serve customers behind him. Pam thrust the flute into his hand and grinned. The glass was empty.

"Want me to fill this for you?" he questioned.

"No, silly!" Pam rolled her eyes. "It's for you, it's time for your toast… but if you want actual good champagne…you'll have to come with me!" she grasped his hand.

"Aaah!" Eric realized this was about his birthday and grinned. "OK." He looked over his shoulder. "Dawn, I'll be away for a while."

"No problem, boss!"

The small group of friends who'd dropped by had moved onto the third floor, in the anteroom, where Chow had opened one of their best bottles and started serving people. They all cheered when he arrived, behind Pam. Charlie stood by the water cooler and waved at him. There were a couple of his college friends, and colleagues from the firm. Preston stood by the wall next to the sliding doors into the patio and raised his glass at him, wishing him a happy birthday. Eric waved, but couldn't go to him yet because he was being hugged by Amy, who was actually great friends with his ex Sarah, and he was a bit surprised to see her there.

Chow walked up to him and filled his glass and then everyone toasted his good health and Eric thanked them for being there.

"Who's paying for this?" Eric lifted his flute.

"You are, my man!" Chow patted his arm and laughed, before walking away to refill someone else's glass.

"Eric!" Preston called out when he approached. "Happy birthday, old guy!"

"Thanks. It's good to see you. You're looking better!" he noted.

Just as he said this, the sliding doors opened and a confused Sophie stepped in, blinking at them. When she recognized him, she smiled.

"Happy birthday, Eric!" she said. "It's been a while!"

Eric stared a little, surprised. "Hey!" his eyes flitted back to Preston briefly, but his friend gave away nothing. "How have you been?"

"I've been good! I love your club! Preston was right! You did well for yourself here!"

"Yeah, thank you…"

"Ah, I knew I'd forgotten someone!" Chow materialized next to them with a flute for Sophie, which he immediately filled to the brim.

"Thank you…" Sophie took a sip.

Eric looked between the two of them, unsure of what to say. Fortunately, it seemed as though Sophie's phone rang, because she excused herself before she pushed the doors open again and stepped outside to answer it.

"It's going to be the babysitter," Preston said.

"Ah…"

Pam joined them, sipping her champagne quietly. She looked at Eric sideways and arched a curious eyebrow. Good. He was glad he wasn't the only one caught off guard here.

"What's going on?" Eric finally asked.

Preston looked over his shoulder at his ex-wife, and then turned back to watch him with a smile. "We've been talking. We're good. I think… I think we're getting back together."

Eric and Pam exchanged a dubious glance. Pam sipped from her champagne to avoid having to make any comments. Eric batted his eyes repeatedly.

"You guys are getting back together? You just had the most… frankly your divorce made_ me_ never want to get married… now you're getting back together with her?"

Preston made face. "I know… I've been getting that a lot…." He looked between the two of them uncomfortably for a moment. "Look… you guys should understand, more than anyone!"

Pam cocked her eyebrow. "I'm going to go get more champagne. Do you want some, Eric?"

"Uh… yeah please…" he muttered and let her have his glass before she walked away. He stared at his friend in confusion for a moment, and then, unable to help himself he blurted out the first question that had popped into his head, the minute he saw Sophie here, the question he'd been trying not to ask. "What about Sookie?"

It was Preston's turn to blink at his friend in confusion. "What about Sookie?"

"I don't get it… you guys were…" Well he didn't know what they were really – and he didn't think he had the right to ask. "I thought you were seeing each other?"

Preston arched his eyebrows curiously and he looked over his shoulder to make sure Sophie was still safely away. "We were never serious… exclusive, I guess, but not serious."

Before they could continue, Sophie returned, saying something about Bonnie, and they'd had to drop the subject. Eric excused himself, too conflicted to be able to watch them much longer. He found Charlie by the water cooler again, and accepted her happy birthday hug.

"So, how is it going?" Charlie asked.

Charlie was one of his oldest friends, and she'd been his cousin Jeremy's girlfriend for a while. So the three of them had been pretty tight at one point. She was probably the only person he really was happy to see there tonight. He didn't see much of her around Pam though – they didn't seem to get along.

"It's all going great. How have _you_ been?"

"Same old, same old." She nodded her head towards Preston and Sophie. "So what's going on over there?"

"Apparently… they're getting back together…" Eric mumbled, looking over his shoulder at them too.

"You mean that's the _wife_?" Charlie gawked. She'd never met Sophie, her contact with Preston had been brief. "I thought you said he was seeing someone else?"

"He was…" Eric trailed off. He saw Pam had been stopped on her way back to him by two of their friends – she was holding his glass, still empty. "I'm going to get more champagne."

"Ooh, get me one too!" Charlie said, following him.

That night Eric caught himself thinking about Sookie and unable to sleep. He wondered if she was hurt, he wondered for how long this reconciliation had been happening and if that was the reason he hadn't seen much of Sookie for over a month. He remembered Amelia saying she was overwhelmed at the shop because she only had a part time employee and business was serious this time of year. If he was honest, he'd missed seeing her, but had felt relieved whenever Preston showed up without her. He sighed deeply and rolled his eyes at himself.

He shifted in bed, sinking further down into his mattress, with his head more comfortably pressed into his pillow and turned on his side to watch Pam as she slept. He smiled and reached out to brush some hair away from her face. It caused her to shift and sigh. Moments later her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him nervously.

"Hey…"

"Hey…"

"Can't sleep?"

"Seems that way."

Pam smiled sympathetically. She closed her eyes when he caressed her cheek with his knuckles and sighed happily, closing her eyes. He moved in to kiss her and she kissed him back a little, holding onto him. Eric was glad he could get a little help to exhaust himself now. His hands brushed down her sides purposefully, coming to rest at her waist, his thumbs pressed into her stomach and Pam stiffened, causing him to stop.

"You OK?" He opened his eyes and looked down at her. She felt tense somehow, and her eyes looked a little worried.

Pam smiled and shook her head. She scooted closer to him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I've been thinking… about Rita's offer…" she started saying.

"Oh….?" Eric started caressing her back, trying to sound neutral. Inside he wondered why she would bring this up now.

"I think I'm going to take it…" she said uncertainly.

Eric frowned down at her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah!" she said a bit more resolutely, and smiled. "Chow has other clubs, it sounds smart, doesn't it?" she paused when he looked at her blankly. "I mean, you should definitely look into it too! I think it could be profitable and safe to have more than one business. And Rita… well Rita would run everything by herself one I'm done training her, and I trust her…"

She continued talking for almost an hour. About how it would only be for six months, and she listed all the benefits of taking on the challenge, all the while asking for his input but never giving him enough breathing room to speak. Eric just listened, nodded, and made appropriate questions. He was too numb by the end of it to muster enough self deprecation to tell himself a well deserved _I told you so_. He also failed to confront her about it. Somehow he didn't want to. Not this time – he felt like he should just let this thing run its inevitable course.


	10. Anxiety

_**Notes on my blog. Thank you for reading.**_

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**::::::::::Anxiety**

The minute he saw Sookie walking into the club he couldn't take his eyes off of her. A vision in a pink sweater, tight grey skirt and knee-high suede boots. He'd known she would be here tonight. Amelia had come by earlier to talk about having her engagement party here, so Sookie being her closest friend, of course she was going to be here. He was uncomfortable with how happy he was to see her though. It was a discomfort he should probably have grown used to by now. But he hadn't seen her in seven weeks. Ugh, the fact he'd kept count was probably proof he was becoming alarmingly obsessed. Or perhaps it'd just gotten worse because Preston was out of the picture now. That… and Pam was planning to leave him for six months to open a pub in London.

He sighed as he watched her moving around the edge of the dance floor, careful not to bump into anyone. More than once his chest had felt a little tighter when she smiled apologetically at someone as she walked around them, once she even reached out to touch a guy's shoulder after _he_ bumped into _her_ and he could read her lips, apologizing. The guy said something to her, his hand going around her waist for a moment and Eric actually shifted in place, his hands flexing. He had to chill the fuck off… He was grateful in a way when she disappeared into the second floor.

Eric folded his arms across his chest and turned to watch the crowd gathering in front of the stage again. He could see Chow standing on the platform beside it, also keeping an eye on things. They had security guards in strategic places, but extra sets of eyes could never hurt. It was Saturday night – disaster was usually just a few hours away.

Pam had taken the night off and it was fine. They'd had an intense discussion last night. Pam questioned him about his indifference to her going away. He'd laughed, and called her crazy – it'd led to an argument that lasted way more than an hour. She was acting completely irrational, so unlike her. Pam had always been crazy, but he'd known her for years and he thought he'd gotten a hang of her brand of crazy pretty well. And _this_ was not _it_. Something was different about her. Her moods were bizarre. At times she pushed him away, at times she clung too tight. He didn't understand what was going on. And she wanted to go away for six goddamned months…

Having sex brought an end to the discussion pretty quickly. And afterwards she was just completely sweet and understanding. Eric was starting to think maybe her going away was a good thing. So he was happy she wasn't here tonight. It seemed like both of them had lots to think about between now and then. He wasn't optimistic, if he was honest – strange as she had been, this was a pattern he was familiar with. He wouldn't do this a fifth time – but he wanted to give her time to change her mind. So maybe he was indifferent – but he was also carefully hopeful. If she had in fact changed, and maybe her strange behavior was just a sample of that, then maybe she'd realize what she was doing, and give up.

"Hey..." Eric called to Chow as he came to stand next to him by the sound boxes. It's not like he could hear him, but he nodded anyway.

They were standing there for a while, watching the crowd together, Eric felt someone behind him, but the voice shouting at them next surprised him.

"HEY THERE YOU GUYS!"

He turned to see Sookie standing awfully close and he smiled in response to _her_ smile, which again made his chest tighter. She looked a little flushed, and her breath smelled like champagne.

"LONG TIME NO SEE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Eric shouted back, turning towards her.

"CONSUMED BY WORK!" she shrugged and then turned to Chow. "WHAT'S UP CHOW?"

Eric tuned his friend out as he shouted back at Sookie – as he watched her standing there, animatedly shouting at them, he couldn't help but think of Preston and Sophie. And Preston and Sookie. Did she even know? He never got to ask Preston anything else with Sophie there. But now, he needed to know, somehow his friend's answer had bothered him. They were never serious? Did that mean he didn't even care?

"Let's get out of here…" Eric breathed into her ear and touched his hand to her lower back to start steering her away from there.

She jolted a little against his touch, and looked up at him a little surprised, but nodded, and started walking without questioning him about it. He led her to the platform outside. The club felt claustrophobic with her in it, and he needed to be able to speak to her without shouting. Thankfully there weren't many people outside, due to the weather starting to grow colder at this time of year. When they were at the very end, by the railing, Eric rubbed the back of his neck and tried to think of something to say first. He needed to buy some time to think of how to broach the subject with her.

"Would you like something to drink?"

Sookie blinked at him curiously and then seemed to be thinking quickly of something to say herself. "Uhm… a coke…?"

She didn't sound certain, but that was good enough for him. Eric nodded and excused himself to go and fetch her drink. They weren't close friends, he didn't know how to talk about this with her. He also didn't think she would appreciate his intrusion. But he couldn't let it go. So when he returned with her coke, he was determined.

"So, no bartending tonight?" Sookie asked before he could actually get a word out.

He was actually relieved she was doing this, it gave him a moment more, at least.

"No, not tonight. So you've been busy huh?" he leaned against the railing next to her.

Sookie sagged, staring at the hill bellow – her pout drew his eyes to her mouth. "Ugh… too busy…"

He smiled a little at her huff, it was cute. "Still haven't hired help?" He remembered Amelia talking about her stubbornness when it came to hiring extra help.

When Sookie looked at him questioningly he offered: "Ames."

"Is she here like… every week now?"

Eric laughed, thinking about how she wasn't really that into the club. "She's a clubber… face it."

"It's the VIP pass going to her head." She laughed. "Well no… I haven't… I've interviewed a few people but…" she just shook her head.

"Well at some point you're going to have to do it."

Sookie just nodded resignedly and Eric looked down between them, bracing himself. He had to bring it up now.

"So uh… Have you been talking to Preston?"

She looked up at him curiously. "No, haven't talked to him properly in over two weeks." She looked upwards, trying to remember something. "I think there were a few missed texts though… Why? Is he here tonight?"

Well she didn't know. If she knew she would have led with that, she would have said they weren't seeing each other anymore. He hated Preston just a little bit more now.

"No…" he hesitated. "Well I thought you knew…"

He felt uncomfortable now. This was definitely not his place to say. He looked down at the city, looking for inspiration.

"Knew what?" she prodded. "What?" she insisted when he took too long.

Eric turned to face her, his eyes apologizing. "He's… he's getting back with his wife… I thought he would have told you."

He _should_ have told her. Preston had been the one talking about how she was one of the good ones. How could he not tell her?

Eric watched for her reaction, ready for the worst. She frowned a little, her eyes became distant. And then, unexpectedly, a slow, understanding nod. "Oh… well…" she offered him a smile. "Uhm… no he didn't tell me but I've been very anti social lately. When?"

"Just… earlier in the week, I think he said they're taking it slow…"

"Well he does have that lease for one year…" she chuckled.

She was joking. She was making jokes about this. He didn't understand.

"Are you OK?" he frowned.

She cocked her head to the side, frowning a little as she regarded him, she was the one trying to get a read on him now, it seemed. She smiled slowly before she spoke.

"Yeah… yeah I'm OK. He's my friend, Eric. If he's happy, I'm happy."

This was definitely not the reaction he expected. Could he have misread the situation so badly. Wasn't she even a little disappointed? Was she that guarded?

They were interrupted by her friends, Tara and Amelia, squealing drunkenly at her from inside. Sookie had to excuse herself, after politely enquiring after Pam.

Eric frowned and stayed out there a bit longer, testing his feelings. He found himself doing a lot of this around her. He discovered he was glad to see she wasn't too deeply upset. Then he reminded himself he shouldn't have thoughts or feelings about Sookie at all.

He suddenly needed to see Pam, very much. On his walk back inside, he called her, making sure she was home and still up – then he told her he was coming to see her, and he went finding Chow to let him know he was on his own tonight.


	11. Pressure

**:::::::::::Pressure**

Eric watched with contained irritation as Pam rolled out of bed and started pulling clothes out of her overnight bag. He stayed where he was, sitting up against the headboard of his bed, watching her as she enthusiastically dressed up for Amelia's boyfriend's birthday party. He didn't get her enthusiasm. She was vaguely indifferent to all of Preston's new friends before – now she was talking about Amelia every other day like they'd been friends for years. Another one for the list of strange things Pam had been doing.

"Aren't you going to get moving?" Pam asked him before she disappeared into his bathroom with her makeup bag.

"I don't understand why we're going in the first place!" Eric yelled from the bed.

"I thought you _liked_ Tray and Amelia?" Pam poked her head out of the bathroom, frowning at him.

"I like them. But it's not like we ever hang out with them outside of the club, where we _work_, as you know."

"Amelia invited us personally! You were there!" Pam ducked back into the bathroom.

Eric sighed and rolled out of bed to get dressed. "Fine."

"Honestly, Eric! I don't know what's up with you!" Pam walked back into the bedroom and tossed her makeup on his bed. "It's almost as if you're trying to avoid someone!"

Eric snapped his eyes up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Now you're talking crazy."

Pam eyed him funny and then shrugged. "Then don't be such a spoil sport!"

"You're awfully sociable lately…" Eric teased her before he slipped on a dark blue shirt.

"You say it like it's a bad thing…" Pam opened his closet to peek inside.

"In your case I can most definitely state that it is…" he walked up behind her and then picked her up and put her to the side so he could go into the closet.

"We don't have to stay long!" Pam countered. "I just think it's nice to not refuse an invitation when it's so early in a relationship!"

Eric paused just as he was choosing a belt. "Yeah, you see… this thoughtful comment of yours… so not you."

Pam sneaked into the closet with him, wrapped her hands around his waist and stood on her toes to kiss him. "You're so mean to me. You're lucky I love you."

Eric smirked. "Yeah, I guess I am." He kissed her again.

"You're going to miss me…" Pam told him with a grin when he pulled away. "You'll see…"

"Now you're the mean one…" he sighed and straightened up, finishing buckling his belt and then walking around her to get out of the closet. "Let's go then."

The whole London thing was slowly getting to him. At first he'd been skeptic of Pam's ability to hurt him again with this one. It'd happened three times before, what did he have to be sad about? Pam finding an excuse to screw things up between them should have come as no surprise – and it didn't surprise him. But his earlier indifference changed over the course of the weeks. She kept saying it was just six months, that she wasn't breaking up with him, that it was different now. He'd carried on like nothing happened.

Then the talks about the staff and how he and Chow were going to make it without her in that period started to happen – and it became more real. He wasn't confident these six months would be no problem. He wasn't entirely sure why – but he was a lot less confident than Pam seemed to be. Her continuous strange behavior didn't help. But every time he tried having a fight about it, she turned it around on him, saying he was the one trying to get away.

Now her out-of-the-blue friendship with Amelia – he didn't know what to make of it. Pam didn't have a lot of friends like Amelia - the domestic type who never goes anywhere without her boyfriend. Pam always said those girls were boring. It didn't bode well for some reason. But whatever. He was just going with the flow as planned.

They parked outside an impressive house. There were a lot of cars parked nearby and Eric frowned when through the large windows he could see the inside was decorated for a luau, and Hawaiian music drifted into the air coming from inside.

"I love Amelia's eccentricity!" Pam snorted as she jogged up the front steps in front of him.

"Oh hi there! You found it!" Amelia gushed as she yanked the door open for them.

Amelia grabbed Eric's arm first, pulling him inside, yanking him down for a kiss – she had obviously had quite a bit to drink already. Pam stepped in behind him and then Amelia engulfed her in a hug as well while Pam told her what a lovely house she had.

"Here, let me…" Eric reached for Pam's white coat.

"Thanks!" Pam turned to him, beaming and grasping for his hand.

He smiled back at her, shaking his head – still very confused about why Pam would want to be here tonight.

"Did you guys find a good parking space?" Amelia was asking as she closed the door.

"Yeah, no worries…" Pam said.

Eric felt that strange sensation of being watched, he caught something in his peripheral and looked up. Like a moth to a flame – there was Sookie Stackhouse, looking down at them from the second landing. She waved at them before she moved to the stairs.

She looked delicious if he was honest. She wore a crocheted white sweater dress that exposed the skin of her arms very elegantly between the intricate loops of fabric and enough of her thighs for it to be problematic. She wore her long blonde hair down, framing her face and cascading down her shoulders and back. And when she was near, he could smell her, and it just finished killing him off. This girl really was his guiltiest of pleasures. Guilty because not once had he ran into her while at least one of them wasn't unavailable. He reined himself in as Pam stepped up to kiss Sookie's cheeks.

"Hey Pam!" Sookie grinned rather nervously at his girlfriend, her eyes returning to his almost immediately.

Eric braced himself and leaned forward to kiss her too, fighting the urge to touch her in any other way, keeping his hands to his sides. "Hi, Sookie."

"Hi…" her eyes drooped down a little and she took a step back.

He stared back at her, probably a bit too long, because Amelia suddenly snapped overly cheerfully. "I'm _so_ glad you guys could come!" Eric snapped his head at her, startled and she was smiling widely at him. "Tray's inside!"

Pam tugged at his hand to get his attention and Eric nodded at her, motioning for her to go first and then she started pulling away, trailing behind Amelia.

_This_ had been what he had been trying to avoid – and he had to wonder how perceptive Pam was, now that he recalled her questioning him about avoidance earlier. He did his best to brush it off. He greeted Tray, and wished him a happy birthday – they started talking and Pam disappeared with Amelia somewhere else in the house. She returned later with a beer for him and a loud, public peck. Then she moved along to chat with Tray, as Eric nursed his beer and leaned onto a window to stare outside for a bit.

It had been raining earlier in the evening, and the asphalt was still pretty wet - he was staring at puddles to see if it'd stopped raining altogether and soon he was lost in thought – completely tuning out the conversations around him. Pam would be leaving next week – and he didn't know how he felt about it anymore. And every time he saw this girl…

Like she'd been summoned, he looked up to see Sookie strolling casually into the piano room – her eyes found him immediately. She stopped uncertainly and Eric arched his eyebrows at her curiously. He smiled and she smiled back before she started walking again, making a beeline for him that had his ears thumping.

"So what's up? Bored already?"

"Do I always look bored to you?" He had to wonder, after all, he was often a mess of inner monologues when she was around him, he couldn't blame her if she didn't find him a good conversationalist.

"No!" Sookie hurried to fix it, appearing to be upset she'd offended him.

Eric couldn't help but smile. Everything she did was cute, even panic.

"Just right now…" she looked down uncertainly.

He assured her he wasn't bored and then quickly thought of something to change the subject and end her discomfort. "What's new with you?"

He hadn't seen her in over a month, since the night of Tray and Amelia's engagement. He imagined she was still suffering with the Christmas sales.

"I hired help!" Sookie said with no small amount of pride. "She's a _librarian_!"

That tidbit seemed to please her enormously and he couldn't help but tease her. "A certified librarian! Congratulations! I always wanted one of those."

Sookie was taken a back for a second, but then, she detected his tone, and slapped his arm and let out the cutest little grunt. He laughed, thinking her adorable. And when she laughed with him, he was filled with a warmth that was completely new and unfamiliar to him.

"By the way, how is _the Tavern_ still running with both you _and_ Pam out somewhere else?"

Her question brought reality back to him with a punch. He sagged against the window, his eyes flickering over to where Pam stood chatting with Tray. He'd come with her.

"Unlike some, we do know how to delegate," he teased her. She glared at him, but she knew he was joking. "Besides, Chow is there tonight to oversee whatever needs overseeing."

"It must be nice to have partners."

There was something so despondent about her tone of voice, it got him thinking. He didn't know how good a business a bookstore was.

"We do like to be there as often as possible. But it can run without one or two of us there all the time. Or it surely will have to now." It was still strange to think of coordinating their nights without Pam there.

"What do you mean?" Sookie frowned curiously.

It felt weird talking about this with her. Like some form of betrayal. But he'd started, so he finished telling her about Pam's trip to London. It killed him when Sookie looked sad for him. Because he didn't think it was appropriate – he didn't want her to be sad his _girlfriend_ was leaving. Perhaps a sick part of him wanted her to be relieved, relieved like he'd felt when Preston went back to his wife...

Shit, he was a horrible person...

"Hey, it's only for six months, right?" he blurted stupidly, as though _he_ was comforting _her_ about Pam's trip – which was ridiculous!

"Yeah!" Sookie agreed quickly, nodding her head, her eyes dropping between them. "Hey, I'm gonna get you another beer!"

She completely surprised him, taking his empty cup from his hand before storming away, leaving him there gaping at her. Perhaps he'd looked so pathetic she couldn't handle him anymore. He didn't blame her. Or maybe she just thought beer would really really help him – either one of those.

Now that she was gone, he could finally listen to the conversations around him again, but when he realized Pam was talking about London again, and Rita, and their stupid pub, he had to get out of there. He went looking for Sookie, and the beer she'd promised him.

He found her outside on the patio, she was talking to a tall, lanky guy with a British accent. She was snickering at him, apparently delighted about something he'd said. Eric approached them, and then Sookie apologized for taking too long with his beer. Sookie's friend didn't seem to approve of him. She introduced them, and then the guy, Frank, seemed to be trying to squash his hand, without a lot of success. Eric cocked an eyebrow at the guy and he finally quit.

"Admirer of yours?" Eric teased her once she suggested they go talk to Tara and JB.

"I'm more of a hobby for him. Don't mind him, no one does!" Sookie explained.

When Tara and JB asked him pretty much the same question as Sookie in regards to the Club, he grinned at her, while she rolled her eyes with a shrug. They chatted for a bit, about other things, until Pam decided to join them, and then the subject was her trip to London all over again. Eric was fed up. With Pam, with himself and his undecided feelings in regards to this and with Sookie, for standing there, looking every bit like the guilty pleasure she always, always was.

* * *

**A/N:** It would make giddy and overjoyed to hear your thoughts. I also update quicker when you guys talk! *clucks tongue*


	12. Break

**::::::::::::Break**

They were sitting in the living room of Pam's apartment. Almost everything had been packed up. Her lease was going to expire while she was in London, so she took care to move all her belongings to her mother's apartment. They'd had dinner with her and Pam's sister on Sunday – a sort of goodbye.

The time to stop dragging his feet around had arrived. Once he sat down to confront his feelings he was deeply ashamed of himself. He didn't want her to go. But he had never asked her to stay. He admitted it was a pride thing. He wanted her to stay, for once, because she wanted to. His co-dependence was crippling. He loved her, but he always felt like he was the only one doing the loving. He realized he'd spent years, passively-aggressively asking her, begging her to prove to him what he meant to her.

He was what he himself would have called a prick. He hated who he was right now. He pushed himself to this decision, and he swore this time would be the last they would be having a conversation like this. He braced himself for it all day – and now that he'd said it all, about how he felt and how he didn't like it at all, he felt numb.

Pam stared across the room and over his shoulder, her eyes were red rimmed, but she wasn't crying. His own eyes stared listlessly at the floor between them.

"You're breaking up with me…" Pam said after a long, long wait.

"Pam, I think we've both seen that coming," Eric took a deep breath.

"No!" Pam shook her head. "_You're_ giving up this time."

"I don't trust either one of us to make it work, Pam," Eric said honestly. "I don't trust you here, at home, let alone in a different continent…"

"Eric you're being…"

"I'm being realistic. I know you," Eric cut her. "To be honest, this time I don't trust myself either." He said honestly, dropping his eyes to the floor. "I have changed."

She blinked repeatedly, tears, tears she was clearly angry at started to fall. "Is this… is this you trying to punish me?"

"No…" Eric cut her again. "It's not that. This is me trying not to be an ass. We're never going to make it, Pam. You might talk yourself into thinking this time it's different, but it isn't. You're still leaving - again. And I'm not the guy I was before – the guy who'd wait for a chance when you got tired of your latest adventure to then pressure you into being what I want."

Pam stood up angrily and her mouth moved as if she was about to start yelling at him. Eric sat back and waited, but after gaping for a while, Pam closed her mouth, closed her eyes and more tears fell. Eric sighed and looked down, so he wouldn't be tempted to comfort her. After a moment Pam sat back and wrapped her arms about herself. She took deep, shuddering breaths while staring at the floor between them. She shook her head slightly, as if she was coming to some sort of conclusion.

"You should go…" she said, her voice was cold.

"Pam…"

"I don't want to see you right now!" she said louder. "You said what you wanted to say! Now leave!"

Eric sighed and stood. He knew she was holding something back, but he was tired of playing this game. He should never have gotten back with her in the first place. As much as he loved her, there was just too much resentment between them – he should know – he was the one holding a grudge.

"I won't drive you to the airport on Friday if you don't want me to," Eric said when reached the door. "But if you're not staying with me until then…"

"I'll stay at my mom's, don't you worry… Go, Eric."

"I guess I see you at the club then…" Eric opened the door and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

He heard something colliding and crashing with the opposite side of the door. Eric just shook his head and told himself to keep walking.

He arrived home to stare at the package containing the book he'd bought for another girl. He'd changed his mind about giving it to Sookie in the end. But he'd already made the order by the time he realized what he was doing. Putting the moves on her while he was in this mess with Pam was just not right, he wasn't like that. So he'd given up. Preston had written down her address for him and Eric had simply not looked at it again. The book had arrived Monday morning and he'd just let it sit there, still in the sealed cardboard box. Maybe he'd give it to someone else, or he'd donate it to the library.

He wasn't going to do this. He didn't break up with Pam to be with someone else. He was very certain he probably would _not_ stay faithful to her if his attraction to Sookie was any indication. But he hadn't broken up with Pam so he could be with her. He'd broken up with Pam because Sookie was only one of the symptoms that this thing with Pam was just huge, colossal mistake.

Pursuing Sookie Stackhouse would be just _another_ huge mistake. If before he wouldn't even think about going after her out of respect for Preston, now he wouldn't go after her because he couldn't figure out what to do with himself when it came to her.

His sudden obsession with her was a bad sign. She'd been nice to look at years ago, she'd maybe starred in more than a few fantasies, but this thing he was doing now was ridiculous. He'd ogle her even if Pam was by his side and he had _never_ been that guy before.

He was sure Sookie was more than how beautiful she was and if he went after her now, it wouldn't be because he wanted to know her better and marvel at how wonderful a person she was inside. It would be because he was pathologically attracted to her.

Eric picked up the package from the center table and walked over to the shelves next to the TV and just put it there for the time being. Then he went to his fridge, grabbed a beer and walked to his bedroom, kicking his shoes and turning the TV on.

He undressed down to his boxers and flopped on the bed with his beer, ready to waste a couple hours watching a movie. He'd drank half his can when his phone rang – the screen told him it was Pam.

"Hey."

There was a long pause on the other side. "_I'm down in your lobby…"_ her voice was tired and sad.

Eric sighed. "Changed your mind?"

"_My mom will just ask a lot of questions… is your offer still up or…_"

"I'll buzz you in…" Eric said as he was already rolling out of bed.

As he went to hold open the door for her, there was a part of him that wanted to take it all back, tell her it was OK, they could make it. That part of him became especially hard to ignore when he saw her coming out of the elevator. But he wouldn't go back. It had to stop now, before they hurt one another even further.

He helped her bring her things inside and without need for discussion she went straight for the guest room. He sighed with relief and picked up her bags to take them for her. They were going to be alright, like they'd been before. They had the _Tavern_, and it was their hugest accomplishment together. They were going to be alright because he was sure, even if Pam never hanged – he sure as hell was going to.

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**A/N: Thank you soo much for indulging me with reviews for the last chapter. I was getting disencouraged, to be honest, but you guys proved to me you're still there. And as promised, here is your well deserved quick update. **

**The New Year drabble is aaaalmost here - it will be drabble 14, so just one more before that! :) See you guys next time.**


	13. Push & Pull

**:::::::::::::Push & Pull**

Nearly a week before Christmas, Eric found himself at the club, working the bar to help his bartenders as usual. He'd driven Pam to the airport just six days ago. It'd been harder than he wanted to admit to see her go. For the last six years, she'd had been a part of his daily life no matter what role she occupied in it. But he'd closed that door, and it was a struggle to remind himself of that.

Work would have been a good way to get one's head out of a break up. The problem here was, Pam was part of that too. He couldn't escape her. At least Christmas would be interesting. While his entire family lived in Sweden, he had received plenty of invitations from his friends. In the end he decided to go with a bunch of them to a cabin in the mountains. Most of his friends were part of couples now, but he knew he wouldn't be the only lone wolf there. It was only a couple of days, and it would be nice to just worry about how much food he could fit into his stomach before he'd need to pop open the button on his jeans. New Year's Eve was always a big night at the _Tavern_ after all, so they had to enjoy Christmas any way they could.

"Hey there, Eric!"

Looking up he saw Amelia bracing over the counter with a happy grin. He smiled back, his eyes quickly scanning the floor behind her for signs of her friends. Who was he kidding? He was just looking for Sookie Stackhouse. To his surprise, she _was_ here this time around. He saw her in one of the booths, across from Tara. He hadn't really expected to see much of her now that Preston had gone back to Sophie – after all, Sookie preferred bars. But there she was, seemingly in a good mood, smiling and chatting to her friend. She wore her hair down tonight, which he found he preferred. She wore a blue sweater that made her eyes pop and rose-colored lip gloss that did things to him better left unmentioned.

"So what can I get you?" Eric asked as he forced his eyes away from that particular table.

"Two dark beers, one rum and coke please!" Amelia chirped, drumming her fingers on the counter.

"Right away!" Eric smiled at her before turning to get them for her. He'd bet the rum and coke was for Sookie, since she'd been so shocked about his preference for beer.

"So have you heard from Pam since last Friday?" Amelia asked him when he returned.

He frowned, having expected her to know about them being broken up. He shrugged.

"She called a couple times. She's good, still getting settled I suppose."

"Oh, probably! I don't know how you two can do this! Being apart right before the holidays!"

So Pam hadn't told her yet. "Pam didn't tell you?" he arched an eyebrow. "We split up… not that it makes it easier…" he shrugged. "But you're right it would be tough on the holidays."

"Oh!" Amelia looked genuinely shocked. "Oh. Eric, I'm so sorry!"

Eric tried his best smile. "It's fine… we're fine. It's for the best."

Amelia still stared at him quite sadly – it was a strange expression for her usually smiling face. Eric thought perhaps he was smiling a bit too hard and was thankful when another customer waved at him and he had to go. He supposed most of his old friends weren't surprised by the news, no one batted an eyelash when they told him. But Amelia was new.

He poured a few more drinks before he cast another glance towards their table, and this time, he caught Sookie staring at him. She seemed embarrassed and he guessed Amelia had told her and Tara the news. He hurried to fix a smile upon his face and he even waved – he _waved_! What was wrong with him? So what she probably felt sorry for him? It didn't mean he had to be a fucking dork! He peeled the stupid smile off his face as he moved to the next customer down the bar.

It was another twenty minutes before he saw either one of them again. This time Sookie came to get her friends their refills.

"Hey!" she called animatedly as she sidled up next to the counter.

"Hey!" he smiled back, this time at least, it was a normal smile. "How are you girls doing tonight?"

"Oh just great!" Sookie shrugged. "It's nice to have a girl's night every once in a while…"

"No boys allowed?" Eric teased.

"Nope, not tonight!" she grinned.

She was watching him a little strangely and he wondered if she was about to ask him about Pam. Jesus, no please don't – was all he could think. He'd felt like a loser on Tray's birthday when he'd revealed to her Pam was going away and Sookie had looked so sorry for him. He couldn't get a repeat of that right now. Not when she wasn't even aware just of how conflicting it was to have her feel sorry for him and Pam when he felt so, so much like a cheating asshole with her around.

"So, two darks beers and a rum & coke?" He hurried to say before she could open her mouth.

Sookie had been about to speak, and she stopped, blinking at him a little surprised. "Ah… sure… actually…" she blinked again and seemed a little lost, running her fingers through her hair before focusing on his eyes again. "Just the coke for me this time I uh… I plan to leave a little earlier so…"

"Okay…" Eric nodded and smiled again, feeling like she had been a little offended by his abruptness – he didn't like making her feel uncomfortable. "Lemon and ice?"

"Yeah, that would be fine…" she smiled.

"So what are you doing for Christmas?" Eric hurried to find a way to fix the discomfort he'd obviously created.

"Oh pretty standard stuff. I always go to my brother's house for Christmas. He lives in Gladville with his wife and three kids!" that did seem to do it for her as she was quickly smiling on the subject of her family.

Eric smiled in return, knowing exactly how she felt. He didn't have any nephews or nieces, he'd never had siblings. But growing up with his cousin Jeremy around, he hadn't had the time to feel lonely, and now that his parents were gone, and his cousin had moved to Sweden with the rest of their family, it was usually a little sad around Christmas time. He was glad he had enough friends to keep him company, but it was always different with family.

"Is it just the one brother?"

"Yep! Just me and Jason… well now he has Crystal and the boys, so I guess it makes us a bigger family…" that seemed to please her to no end and her smile became even brighter.

Jesus, she was delightful. She was standing there in her blue sweater the color of her eyes, looking absolutely edible with her glossy lips and flowy, silky hair he wanted to just reach out and touch, maybe bury his face in it and find out what perfume she'd picked tonight. And that sweater looked very, very soft…

"Ah…" Sookie was suddenly fidgety.

Eric shook his head to himself, apologized, and hurried to finish getting her drinks. He returned and she smiled a bit nervously.

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome!"

"You…" Sookie hesitated, touching the bar tentatively and leaning forward. "You're OK?"

"Yeah! Yeah I'm good!" he smiled as honestly as he could.

Sookie nodded, there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes which she masked quickly as she scooped up the three glasses and bid him good night before walking away. He couldn't help but notice when Sookie was around, thoughts of Pam disappeared, unless he was worrying about how much of an ass he probably was for desiring the girl like he did when Pam was near. Except now she wasn't.

That night, when he made it home around two, his eyes went straight to the brown parcel next to the TV. The one with the book he'd bought for Sookie. It'd been such a stupid idea – a little joke, but then he'd felt guilty about it. The idea was probably still very stupid, but right now, he couldn't bear the thought he might not see Sookie again before the holidays.

He walked over to the TV, picked up the parcel from the shelf next to it and headed into his bedroom. He tossed the parcel on the bed an went straight to his ensuite. After a long shower and changing into sleeping pants he sat down with a pair of scissors and tore through the cardboard box to get the book out. He smiled cheekily at the title. _Delegate – A guide for the small business man_ had actually been a pretty helpful book a few years ago. He didn't really think Sookie didn't know what she was doing and he hoped she wouldn't be offended. It was just a joke. If she found actual value in the book it would be just a bonus. He decided to just go ahead and hand it to her next week before Christmas. If anything, he'd get to see her one more time – and with luck, she'd come to New Year's Eve night with her friends and he'd see her again. He'd be content with just being able to stare at her. It was really all he'd done so far – why break a great tradition?

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**A/N:** You guys were so great with your reviews last chapter! Thank you! Next drabble we get to New Year's Eve already!

On my blog I've been posting a reference guide to those who want to read Love as a Game again while reading this. I have also been doing new art for every drabble. Coz it's fun.


	14. Trigger

**::::::::::::::Trigger**

For Eric, Christmas had been predictably dull. Not even the lavishly decorated winter house and the view of the snow covered mountains put him in the right mood. There was food, for sure, and alcohol, and not all of his friends were a complete bore. But there was just too much missing. It was like the Club for the Family-Impaired. People whose families were either gone or out of reach. They were people who he had known since college, who today were either lawyers or HR Managers or First Assistants and other uninteresting titles that felt so far away from his world.

Between trying to hold a conversation while pretending to be genuinely interested and trying to get a hold of his distant family on the phone, he'd also had to avoid Indira – who was also newly single and determined to get his attention. He was just happy when it was time to drive home and get back to work.

In the end, the highlight of his Christmas had been dropping by the _Bookshelf_ to give Sookie his present. She'd been surprised and then amused. He almost dropped by her house, but he felt it would be too forward of him. After Amelia made a passing comment about Sookie driving away on the 24th, he remembered she'd said her brother lived in Gladville. So he'd driven to her bookstore on the 23rd during business hours, hoping she would have a couple minutes to see him. His favorite moment had been when she sniffed the book right in front of him. She hadn't been kidding about that! Eric had actually caught himself that evening, reaching for the book on his bedside table, a dull book about finances – and taking a good, sound whiff.

The buildup for New Year's Eve was always a lot of work at the club, and this year they didn't have Pam. Pam was usually the one to deal with the musicians and backstage staff. With her gone, the task had fallen to Eric, on top of the other tasks, like general staff management and hiring extra hands for the security team. Chow was the finances guy while Eric and Pam were more hands on. They'd have to make do without Pam.

Eric didn't quite mind the extra work. He hated this time of year after all. It was the time of year he was usually reminded of how isolated he was from his family. He didn't really have Jeremy's courage to move to Europe after having grown up in the States. He liked the town, the people, and although he often found himself irritated with his friends, they were his people now – it was a complex feeling.

His feelings about Pam's departure were completely bipolar. He'd given up trying to decide how he felt about it. One minute he was completely indifferent, the other he was resentful. He realized he didn't miss her exactly, not in the desperate way he'd felt the other times she was gone – but she was such a big part of his life now that her absence was felt one way or another.

He'd tried calling her on Christmas Eve, but like it often happened in those mountains, his phone service sucked. He sent her a message and he'd be surprised if she received it before January. But when he drove home there was a message from her too. A very short, cryptic, unenthusiastic message. He didn't know if she was still upset with him, or if it was something else. He couldn't get a hold of her though, and after trying a couple times, he gave up. He was not that guy anymore – he hadn't lied about it. He wouldn't chase her.

So he shrugged it all off and focused on the club and on New Year's Eve. They hired a house favorite classic rock band – _The Fenders_.The club had helped put that band on the map – they'd had their first national tour just last year and they were aware _The Tavern_ had a lot to do with it and so they were content to be part of the NYE party. There were a lot of delivery trucks between Christmas and December 31st and they'd had to buy a whole lot of ice.

But, come New Years Eve, they had everything ready and running smoothly as always. Eric was able to grab four hours' sleep in the middle of the day before he showered and drove to the club, to welcome the extra security guards and to go over their jobs for the night. After that he split his time between talking to the bartenders and hired waitresses and making sure the stage crew had everything they needed. Chow also took on more obligations than his usual on a night like this, and together they did their best to get everything ready for the party.

It was 8pm, one hour before they'd open their doors, and Eric was leaning against the stage and nursing a bottle of water after doing some heavy lifting to help the band in the back. One of their usual staff of bouncers strode towards him carrying his radio.

"One of the newbies intercepted a friend of yours outside, boss."

"Who?" Eric frowned.

"Preston. I told the idiot to let him in."

"Thanks, Jake," Eric patted his shoulder as he walked past him and started heading to the main door to meet with Preston.

He had no idea what his friend could be doing here. He made no mention of having plans to drop by. He'd been spending all his free time with his wife and kid and the last thing he'd expected was to see him here tonight, and an hour too early.

Preston had just made it past the door when Eric climbed the steps onto the large lobby area. He took in his friend's appearance curiously. He was a mess. He wore a long dark-gay coat over a rumpled, untucked white shirt with more than one button undone. He hadn't been shaving again, and his brown hair was unfashionably unruly. Eric quickly fixed a smile on his face as he reached out to clasp his hand.

"Preston! I wasn't expecting you…"

"Me neither…" Preston sighed, looking behind Eric at the main floor as the stage crew finished setting up. "I forgot you guys had a big thing planned…" he ran a hand over the back of his neck. "It looks… it looks great…"

"What's going on?" Eric asked narrowing his eyes.

Preston sighed, finally looking straight at him. "I got kicked out of the house… she says she doesn't want to see my face until Monday."

Eric batted his eyes quickly, trying not to look too pitying. That was the last thing Preston would want to see. He knew things hadn't been perfect since they'd gotten back together. But to get kicked out on New Year's Eve? Well what the hell was one to do then?

"Why don't we have a drink at the bar…" Eric gestured towards the stairs to the second floor. "We have that bourbon you like so much… we're fully stocked."

He really didn't have time to listen to his friend's problems – but he sat down with him and Chow came over curiously, and the three of them downed a shot of bourbon while trying to talk about anything other than his marriage. When Eric had to start moving again, Chow signaled he'd keep an eye on his friend for him, and Eric thanked him.

He checked with Preston now and then, and eventually, once the club started filling up, he escaped to the platform outside, not minding the cold. Eric found a few minutes to step outside and bring him a refill, to find him fiddling with his phone, which was what he had been doing since he arrived.

Preston was sitting on the back rest of one of the wooden benches, with his feet on the seat. Eric joined him, sitting next to him, and pouring him another shot of bourbon.

"Are you two going to keep doing this? Texting your hate all night long?"

Preston sighed. "It's stupid, isn't it?"

"Very stupid…" Eric watched the very bottom of the bottle he was holding, the remaining amber liquid sloshing inside, tinkling under the halogen light. "Just tell her you're coming home and do it."

Preston scoffed. "You don't know Sophie…"

Eric remained silent. He didn't. And he honestly couldn't see why anyone would want to stay married to her. He shrugged unhelpfully and downed the rest of the bourbon straight of the bottle. Perhaps frustration was contagious because he felt suddenly very restless too. About Preston, about Preston being here tonight, and he didn't know why.

"I'll go get you another bottle," Eric said patting his friend's back as he scrambled out of the bench.

"Thanks man…" Preston replied absently, his eyes on his phone.

Getting from point A to point B on a night like this was always a challenge. A lot of people were here because they were friends, because they were invited – and between getting to storage and back, Eric was stopped a couple times on his way. Friends wanting to compliment the job well done, or just wanting to make conversation. Among them was Indira, who stopped him to introduce him to her date, for some reason she really wanted Eric to meet him, and to tell him he was a successful someone working for some company whose name he forgot within five minutes of meeting the guy. He smiled and nodded, and wished them a good night and then he finally made it to the storage room where he grabbed a brand new bottle of bourbon.

Eric made his way back, trying to avoid getting stopped again, and he was relieved when he reached the glass doors to the platform without interruptions. And then he realized Preston had company.

For a split of second he wondered if maybe Sophie had come by and they were making up. But that thought quickly went away when he recognized the woman wrapped in Preston's arms. It was Sookie. He instantly knew what made him so apprehensive about Preston's presence now. He thought it made him a bit of a pitiful bastard too.

The embrace didn't last too long, and he didn't care it looked like a simple, comforting hug, it bothered him anyway. It caused him to clench his jaw painfully and his eyes to burn. He knew this was ridiculous – he had no claim over the girl. He was an idiot with a six-year old crush that came back to haunt him.

While he stalled there, contemplating turning around and leaving, Sookie looked up and caught him watching her. Eric didn't even have the strength to try and pretend he'd just arrived. He stood there, unable to tear his eyes away as she smiled, turned to him and started walking his way.

As she started to move, his hungry eyes swept all over her form. _Red_ was definitely Sookie's color. He liked the way her long sweater skimmed down to the middle of her thighs and encased those lovely hips. When she reached him, she looked taller, and he blessed her high heels, he could _almost_ look her in the eyes – if he slouched.

"Hey there!" Sookie called out animatedly as she stopped in front of him.

Her long blond hair was a mess of silky waves that gave her a wild look to contrast with her cute rose-colored lip gloss. And she smelled of peaches tonight.

Eric heaved a heavy, charged sigh – his jaw unclenched, but other parts of him were definitely tensing up.

"Do the bosses know you're stealing from the cellar?" she asked teasingly with a nod towards the bottle dangling from his fingers.

Eric shifted, lifting the bottle a little, suddenly reminded of what he had been doing in the first place. "I won't tell them if you don't," he quipped back.

She smiled cocking her head to the side – she pulled at the cuffs of her wooly sweater and swayed in place as she watched him, probably accurately guessing his plans. "Go ahead, he looks like he needs it." She stepped to the side, briefly looking over her shoulder at Preston.

"Did he call you?" Eric blurted out though he immediately regretted it.

Sookie didn't seem to have caught his accusatory tone however – she shook her head. "Preston? No. Chow told me he was here."

Eric didn't exactly feel relieved to hear it. He stood there, looking at Preston, alone on that bench, looking at his damn phone. And here was Sookie – looking every bit as alluring as ever, ready to lend him a friendly shoulder. It was New Year's Eve, anything could happen. Eric really really wanted to kick Preston out of his club at the moment.

"Hey Eric!" he sighed when he heard one of his bartenders calling him.

He looked over his shoulder and Tim pointed towards the empty beer bottle he was holding and shrugged. Eric sighed, his eyes quickly scanning the bar for Chow, but he wasn't there. If they were running out he'd need to go down to storage again.

Eric turned back to Sookie and begrudgingly offered her the bottle of bourbon. "I have to go fix something. Could you get this to him?"

"Sure…" Sookie took the bottle from him, and stared at it, biting her lip.

Eric's eyes dropped to her mouth and he forced himself to walk away and fast. He couldn't rid himself of the mental images his brain started conjuring up of Preston and Sookie. His friend was in a vulnerable place again, and his wife was nuts – then there was Sookie, it looked pretty simple to him. It was New Year's Eve, soon it would be midnight, and what would be more natural than to reach over and kiss the beautiful girl standing right there and being all sympathetic and kind and smelling like peaches?

After heaving three more boxes of beer and two buckets of ice upstairs, Eric did a round of the second floor, looking for her again. He didn't quite know what he'd say once he found her, he just wanted to talk to her. He spied on the platform again and didn't see her there. He didn't see Preston either and he was reluctantly apprehensive again. He spotted Amelia and Tray, sitting at their usual table, their friends seemed to be somewhere else. He stopped by to say hello anyway. Amelia told him everyone else was downstairs dancing.

Eric was tempted to go and try to spot her on the dance floor but he was suddenly being hailed by staff again. Chow had to go fix something wrong with the stage equipment and they needed him to cover for him at the bar.

As the night went on, people were thirstier and more impatient. Soon it would be the time to start breaking the champagne – at least they had the waitressing staff to help with that tonight.

Being behind the bar was one of the things Eric actually liked doing. He was good at it, and fast, and the girls liked having him serve them. Not that he needed the ego boost – but if it helped business, why not? So he stayed there for about an hour, and he barely felt it pass.

"Boss, Chow said he's going to start hauling the champagne upstairs!" Dawn whisper-shouted behind him.

Eric nodded at her as he poured a couple of tequila shots to the customers in front of him. They had to start serving the champagne soon. He did a sweep of the crowd in front of him and spotted Amelia coming towards him, looking disheveled but happy. She waved him over and he fixed her a glass of wine. He'd hoped Sookie would be near her, but there was still no sign of her. He was starting to feel a little pathetic. Fortunately his customers distracted him again, and he moved to the other end of the bar to help Chow as he brought the first box of sparkling champagne.

They stood at the end of the bar, counting the bottles and instructing the waitressing staff. It was then he finally saw her again. Sookie was standing at the exact same spot he'd served Amelia earlier, but there was no sign of the bubbly brunette. There was however a short, dark haired punk standing far too close to her. Eric immediately frowned.

He'd never seen the guy before, so he knew he wasn't part of her circle of friends. Yet they were chatting animatedly, comfortably. The guy slanted his head to hear her better, and Sookie looked up at him with her bright smile as she talked at him, gesticulating enthusiastically while the dark haired fucker nodded and grinned back at her, leaning closer and closer to her. She was oblivious to it – but Eric wasn't. He could see it. Every time she moved, he followed, crowding her space – once or twice he brushed her arm and leaned to say something in her ear. Eric was clenching his jaw again.

She'd caught him staring at one point, but her smile went completely over him, Eric's ears were thumping, his teeth were actually hurting and he just kept opening champagne boxes and moving them over. Then someone called him, distracting him, and when he looked back, they were gone.

"Buddy, I think we're done!" Chow said with a relieved huff.

They leaned against the bar and watched as the waitressing staff started going around and giving away champagne flutes. Eric nodded and let out a relieved sigh. It was almost over – well, the toughest part anyway.

"That's it my friend… we made it." Chow patted his back. "Who needs Pam?"

Eric rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Let's go grab us some champagne and find our friends, eh?" Chow said before he slipped from behind the bar.

Eric nodded, and did the same, waving at Tim, the closest bartender to him. Some people were already starting to head out onto the cold platform, for the fireworks. Eric stopped by the entrance and spotted Preston out there again, by his favorite bench. He was on the phone with someone, and he looked a bit calmer. Eric smiled as Amelia and Tray walked past him, nodding. Eric recognized the dark haired fucker following right after Tara and JB. Eric couldn't help but start craning his neck around, looking for her.

He caught a flash of red in his peripheral and whipped his head around. He saw Sookie going up the steps onto the third floor, clutching her cell phone in her hand. He frowned curiously, as he leaned away from the glass doors. She was probably going to call someone at midnight.

Eric looked back onto the platform, his eyes quickly finding Preston, who now had switched off his phone and was accepting a hug from Amelia while Tray patted his shoulder. He swept his eyes over the crowd again and easily spotted the dark haired douche talking to a skinny blonde not far from Amelia and her friends.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips and Eric turned his back on the gathering crowd to mount the stairs into the third floor.

Fuck this – he thought. He'd been waiting all night – fuck that, he'd been waiting for his turn in the last six months. If he couldn't admit that to himself now then the moment would be gone and his chances would be gone with it.

He stared into the dark sitting room to discover Sookie wasn't there. He frowned for a moment until he looked at the sliding glass door onto the little patio outside. If she wanted a little privacy, that would be the place to go. Without hesitation, Eric strode across the room and pulled at the sliding door. His cell phone buzzed in the back pocket of his jeans and he ignored it, it was the alarm for the countdown. Fuck the countdown.

Sookie halted in mid step and gaped at him in complete surprise. It seemed like she had been getting ready to leave.

"Hi!" she croaked, a little embarrassment to her tone as she regarded him warily.

She looked cold, her hair was in disarray thanks to the strong wind and he couldn't help but notice her taut nipples straining against her red wooly sweater - he was never more thankful for the chill of winter.

Eric cast for something to say quickly. "Hey… what are you doing out here alone?"

Sookie seemed to relax, and her smile became less frantic. "Needed a bit of fresh air… and… peace, I guess." She blinked and shifted nervously as Eric stepped closer. "I don't know how you guys do it every night."

Eric could only shrug impatiently. "We just do, I guess." He took another step closer as Sookie backed onto the wall. "I barely saw you anywhere tonight. I was starting to think you'd ducked out." With the dark haired douche, or Preston no less.

"I know!" Sookie agreed eagerly. "I wanted to have had a chance to chat with you but you were never there!"

Her admission of wanting to talk to him made him smile – her visible agitation at his proximity gave him a little confidence boost. He did something to her too…

"Crazy night," he shrugged again as his eyes dropped to her mouth.

"Hum yeah…" she was fidgeting, gauging the very little distance between them with her eyes. "Well you know someone gave me this great book about delegating…"

He really had no use for small talk anymore. They'd done far too much of it. He narrowed his eyes and closed in on her as Sookie blathered on about that silly book.

Eric covered her mouth with his in mid-sentence. He pressed his hands onto the stone wall beside her and moved his lips over hers steadily. Sookie was paralyzed and unresponsive for a few seconds, but that didn't deter him. Her mouth was cold, but so soft, and he could taste her coconut lip-gloss. When she shuddered underneath him and when Eric felt her tilt her head he swallowed a groan and kissed her harder.

Sookie responded – kissing him back slowly, tentatively at first, her small hand clutching at the front of his sweater as she tried to angle her head for him. He'd kept his hands flat against the wall, afraid to be over eager, but her hand tugging at him and her lips teasing against his made him impatient. He tugged at her chin with his thumb, forcing her lips to part for him. Sookie did with a little gasp and Eric plunged his tongue into the wet heat of her mouth. The moan that escaped her mouth reverberated into him and Eric frowned hard against his most violent appetites. He pushed her against the wall, and his thumb brushed against her jaw and his fingers tugged at her hair while he reached with his other hand to cradle the back of her neck.

She tasted sweeter than he'd dreamed, and she was so soft, and her skin flared up so quickly under his kisses, he was quickly unraveling. He'd wound an arm around the small of her back and heaved her weight against him, pressing her soft body to him so that she had to throw her arms around his shoulders. He started kissing her jaw and cheeks and neck so she could breathe, before claiming her lips again.

Somewhere into the kiss midnight struck and fireworks started, but he didn't care. He could care less about his club, or Chow, or fireworks. Eric was lost in the feel and in the taste of Sookie. His head was buzzing, his ears ringing, and a certain part of him throbbed pleadingly, threatening to betray him.

When Sookie tore her mouth away with a breathless gasp, Eric dropped his mouth to the hollow of her neck and kissed and licked and sucked at the flesh there. He hadn't wanted to mark a girl before, he'd always found it completely juvenile. But he didn't want her to leave here tonight without being marked in some way by him. He wanted her to remember _him_, him and not Preston, not the dark haired fucker, not anyone else. He'd waited, he'd waited six long months for this, and he wanted her to remember it dammit!

Sookie was gasping, her hands clutching at him desperately, and her breathing was labored and heavy. Eric purred against the bruising spot on her neck and kissed it reverently. His hands traced circles on her lovely hips and moved down to cup her bottom as he forced his leg between her thighs to trap her against the wall, his arm still wound around her, making sure she was pressed to him. Sookie moaned and muttered something he couldn't understand. He tried to capture her lips again but she dropped her face to his chest and tugged at his waist timidly, signaling she was feeling a little overwhelmed.

With a strained sigh, Eric dropped his head to her shoulder and brushed her hips soothingly. He listened while both their breathing slowed down. Just feeling her soft warm body tucked into his, and the beat of her heart against him were enough to calm him. He'd be OK to just stand there and hold her to him like this until the fireworks stopped, and until his head stopped its delicious spinning.

"_Eric!_"

Eric froze and frowned. _ Ah shit, not now, for fuck's sakes…_

He pulled away slowly, they'd been so tightly wrapped in each other it hurt to move now. Sookie blinked her eyes opened and stared at him with dazed eyes. Her eyes dropped to his mouth and then her fingers reached up to brush her own abused lips. It made Eric drop his eyes to her mouth as well and he knew his eyes darkened. Her mouth was deliciously puffy and swollen now, and he'd love to kiss it better some more.

"_Eric?_"

The voice was closer now and Eric groaned angrily. Sookie sagged against the wall and stared at him expectantly. There was so much he wanted to say and he couldn't find a damn word.

He heard steps just outside the sliding door and snapped. He forced himself to walk away quickly, before Tim reached them. The last thing he needed was staff gossiping about him tomorrow.

"What?" He barked, pushing the door closed behind him. Tim jumped, gaping at him a little, surprised by his brusqueness.

There had been some sort of brawl in one of the bathrooms and he needed to sort it out with Chow. Calling the police would ruin a lot of people's nights.

One thing was sure, it helped cool things down for him. Although thoughts of Sookie, and the taste of her stayed with him throughout everything.

He wanted to go back out there and find her, he wanted to wish her a Happy New Year, and he wanted to talk to her about continuing what they started maybe somewhere more private.

It didn't happen. The brawl in the bathroom kept him busy for two hours and when he finally had minute to relax she was already gone. Apparently she left with Tara about a half hour earlier. Eric sagged against the wall in the now stuffy office on the third floor, and chugged down a bottle of water. Closing his eyes, he thought of her again, and their charged moment outside on the patio.

He'd been crazy to corner her like that. He could have scared her – dammit he probably had. But then he remembered her responsiveness, and the sounds she'd made. He shivered at the memory.

_Fuck this._

Tonight was the night for him to do out-of-character things it seemed. Because next thing he knew, he'd grabbed his phone and texted her - about how she made him feel, and he finished it with a fucking emoticon. He pressed send feeling a little silly. But it was true. He _did_ want to know her better. Before more dark haired fuckers came to take his place.

Eric stared at his phone stupidly – maybe expecting her to answer immediately. It was three in the morning, she was probably asleep. He started putting his phone away when it suddenly rung and he frowned. Eric flipped it back on his palm and frowned at the caller ID. That wasn't the call he was expecting.

* * *

**A/N: At last eh? You guys be good and leave some sugah.**


	15. White Noise

**:::::::::::::::White Noise**

"Pam?" Eric sat back, running his fingers through his hair and closing his eyes.

It was strange, he hadn't had a single thought about her in the last few hours – now suddenly she called and he felt guilty.

_"Happy new year, Eric…"_ Pam said in a choked, charged voice.

Eric's eyes fluttered open and he frowned. "What's wrong?"

Pam took a deep breath at the other end of the line. _"I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant and I was in a hospital during Christmas and I nearly lost the baby and…"_

Eric's eyes widened, and he was glad he was sitting because he suddenly couldn't feel his legs. Her voice grew more choked and desperate until she trailed off into nervous sobs that were so unlike Pam he didn't know what to do.

"Pam…" he tried to say in a comforting manner while his heart hammered and the thumping returned to his ears in a completely different way. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. "Pam… are you OK?"

He heard a great sniffle, and he could hear Pam trying to calm herself down. He waited, while trying to tame his heart beat. Pregnant… Pam was pregnant…

_"I'm OK I've just been crying for days…"_ she laughed humorlessly. "_You should see how freaked out Rita is…"_ she sniffled. _"I bet you're freaked out too…"_

"Pam… " Eric sighed. "Please tell me you're OK. You're not in the hospital anymore?"

_"No. No, I am at Rita's…"_ there was a pause. _"They… the doctors stopped the bleeding and sent me home."_

"Jesus…" Eric pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why are you only telling me this now?" he couldn't help the admonishing tone. "You should have called me when… I'd have gotten on the first flight…"

There was another sob and Eric paused, trying to pace himself – what was he doing snapping at her like this?

"I'm sorry…" he said hastily.

_"It's not that…"_ Pam whined. _"Eric, I don't know how to say this… I'm so scared…"_

"It's OK, Pam. You're OK now," Eric tried to console her at the same time he tried to process the fact he was going to be a father. His entire body felt like it had been dunked into a bucket of ice when minutes ago it had been sizzling with the memories of what had transpired on the patio just outside. He felt as though he was going to hurl now. "You need to stay calm." He frowned, hating that she was so far away. She was having a baby and she was sick and scared and he was a fucking ocean away. Why did she have to go to fucking London?

_"I'm sorry…"_ she choked. _"It's not yours…"_

It didn't register at first. Eric stared blankly across the room as he let the words sink in. Somehow they didn't make sense. "What?"

There was another sob and another long pause while she tried to get herself together. While he tried to process this, Eric lost the battle with his growing anger.

"Did you cheat on me?" he asked when she took too long.

_"No!"_ she gasped immediately. _"Eric, no!"_

"How far along are you?"

_"Twenty weeks…"_ Pam wailed. _"Eric it was just before we got back together, I swear! I've been trying to find ways to tell you but… and then you broke up with me... I swear, I swear I didn't cheat on you!"_

"_Just_ before we got back together?" he completely failed at keeping his anger at bay. "You mean while you were trying to convince me we should get back together, and telling me you loved me, you were also fucking someone else on the side? Are you fucking serious?"

_"Eric…"_

Eric pinched his eyes closed again and tried to will the throbbing away. It was too much, too much and they were only three hours into the new year. This was not happening – it was not happening he was doing so good and now it was all fucked up again!

"Who is it?" he heard himself asking. He didn't know why it was important. It probably wasn't. He just couldn't help it.

_"Eric…"_

"_Who_, Pam?" he insisted.

_"Longshadow."_

Eric opened his eyes and threw his head back, staring at his ceiling. Longshadow, fucking Longshadow. He hated that fucker. So he was the guy she had been with. He'd always assumed it had been the lead singer, not the fucking weirdo drummer! He remembered Longshadow clinging to Pam at the club in a lecherous way just the week after they got back together and he snorted derisively.

"Does he know?" he asked.

_"No…"_

"So… no one knew. Not your boyfriend, not him… your mother? Your sister?" there was a long pause. "Oh, they knew, of course…"

_"Eric, I didn't know how to tell you!"_ Pam whined. _"I knew you'd be angry, like you are now!"_ she growled. _"I was afraid I'd lose you…"_

He was an idiot. Twenty weeks – surely there'd been signs he completely missed.

_"I knew you'd freak out about this!" _Pam continued. _"But why do you care anyway? Why are you so angry? You couldn't wait to get rid of me less than a month ago! You want my devotion? Stop treating me like basket case who is going to fail your test no matter what I do! You don't get to be mad at me for this, Eric!"_

Pam started sobbing harder into the phone, and Eric immediately felt like shit. Her words stung, unexpectedly. But he didn't have the time to dwell on them. Pam was pregnant, she was fucking pregnant and she'd nearly miscarried, and here he was making it all worse.

"I'm sorry…" he breathed. "Pam… breathe… please… forget what I said, I'm an asshole… please stop crying…."

_"I'm scared, Eric… I want to come home…"_ Pam continued.

"Then come home…" he told her.

There was a long pause in which he could hear Pam sniffle and try and compose herself – he waited patiently while berating himself for making things harder on her.

_"Will you… will you pick me up at the airport?"_

Her voice did it. His anger at her wasn't greater than his impulse to comfort her. She was in tears, she was scared, and she was pregnant. And she was Pam. No matter what happened, she was Pam.

"Of course I will…" he told her.

_"Can I… can I stay with you for a while?"_ she asked uncertainly. _"Mom lives too far from everything and Karin is already staying with her while she renovates her apartment…" _she snorted derisively. _"You know my sister and I can't get along."_

Eric closed his eyes and nodded – not that Pam could see it. But he nodded anyway. "Yes, yes of course you can stay."

_"Thank you…"_ she sounded genuinely grateful. _"Eric I'm so sorry… I wanted to tell you but I was too afraid…"_ she sobbed.

"Pam…" he sighed, he didn't want to get into a fight with her. "Just… get home."

They talked for a few minutes more while they decided what she'd do. When he hung up Eric was completely numb. He stared across the small office, not caring that the whole staff was outside, cleaning things up. There were a million things going through his head.

Suddenly so much made sense. Why Pam had been so strange in the last few months, why she would sometimes get weird when he touched her, why she pushed him away when she was sick. She'd been fucking throwing up and she didn't want him around to see it. Eric rolled his eyes at himself and ran his hand over his face. He'd noticed small changes in her body but he didn't make anything of it. It's not like she was showing at all, or like he'd know what it should look like. But now it definitely made sense why she was always so squeamish when he touched her stomach. And the trip? Was that the reason she wanted to go? She thought she could hide it from him if she was abroad? Was she crazy?

"Hey!"

Chow walked in suddenly interrupting his thoughts. He seemed like he was going to say something but stopped, watching him warily.

"What's up? You look like you'd seen a ghost man…"

"It's nothing…" Eric shook his head and forced himself onto his feet. His legs felt funny, not in a good way. He wasn't ready to tell anyone about this. "I… zoned out is all. I should go out there and help out…"

"I was actually going to suggest you just go home!" Chow shrugged. "You worked very hard tonight… just go home. We have enough staff…"

"I'm not letting you handle it all by yourself," Eric was shaking his head. Besides, he needed the work, he needed the noise, he needed not to think about anything for a couple more hours. More importantly he needed not to think about Sookie while her taste lingered in his mouth.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for the comments as always! I knew the last drabble was probably one of the big ones - glad you liked it. Hope you enjoyed this one too. Until next time.**


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